sofia ep 4: happy 1 year, sayangku

assalamualaikum, sofia anak ibu :')

your arrival made me a mother, and apparently it's not just a title. it's an honor. to get to see a small human grow from phase to phase, from just laying around, to smiling, to blinking, to sitting, to babbling, to crawling, to standing and to whatever phase you will do next. 

i will tell myself that i would want to write a letter to you for your every birthday but i didn't make it past 5 months writing love letters for my relationship with bapak so this letter might be the only one i ever write and that's because your first birthday is a special occasion and i would give you the world if i could.

as you grow up, you will find that the world is so fascinating and there's just going to be way too many toys that you'd want to play, too many friends that you'd want to make and too many places that you'd want to go. and i know that you'd want to experience all this so i wouldn't hold you back so long that you don't ask for RM200 toy or a business class plane ticket to Antartica. but i want you to know that i'd be longing for you to be close to me and thus i will play your toys with you, i will introduce myself to your friends and after all your adventures, my arms would be the place that you'd wanna rest at.

but what i'm requesting next bigger than that. as you grow older, you might feel like you'd be telling your friends more about the crush you're having. you might shy away from telling me if Robert Downey Jr. is the epitome of a handsome man. you might be scared to tell me that you lost my tupperware and you will have these conversations with other people than me. thus, i will be coming to you and tell you about my how bapak and i ended up together, then you'll tell me you have a crush on the kid sitting behind you in class. i'd show you all bapak's hairstyles that makes him look handsome and you'll show me all the posters of hollywood guys that you like. and i won't be buying expensive tupperwares so you can always lose the cheap ones and i will never be mad at you.

i want you to have conversations with me and build our own imaginary world where everything is flowers and butterflies. i want to be the first to know if your heart is broken because only i have the glue to stick your heart back together. i want to be the first person you tell when you figured out your interests because only i have the determination to support you along any paths. i want to be the person you ask to accompany you to watch horror movies with even though i'm getting goosebumps in shock watching the jumpscares. i want to be the person you ask to accompany you to go see siti nurhaliza singing live because you'd know how i admire siti nurhaliza. i want to be the one you want to hug after a long, sad, gloomy day and after a long, happy and joyful day.

please know that no matter how big you get, it's me who will always long to feel close to you.

it's always going to be ibu loving you <3

semoga panjang umur, anak ibu. 

this is you reading my entry when you learned how to use the internet later haha i love u

Thank you for reading this entry :D

sofia ep 3: sofia's second quarter on earth!

assalamualaikum

next week sofia will be 1 year old, and i am so happy to see how much she has grown for the past six months. i am officially a clingy mother than cannot not look at her pictures every hour of every day in the office. a child is truly a blessing.

before i give birth to sofia, i drowned in a pool of infinite tiktoks about mothers training their kids to do stuff as early and as frequent as they can to ensure rapid development of skills. i agree to those activities. but as a working mother, i sometimes find it hard to do all that because i'm only home from 7pm and we all go sleep at 9pm -- i have a short 2 hour window to spend time with her. early on, i did put aside my exhaustion to help her do tummy time, do all the crawling exercises, guide her to sit upright and i do all these as early as when she was 4 month old. and i think that sofia is built differently because she definitely did not enjoy all that stuffs at all. she was either crying or i can see her in agony. but i do know that she tries, because she usually lasts a few seconds. but my motherly instinct cannot watch her like that so kinda decided to stop, make peace with myself and let nature run its course.

by doing that, i started to appreciate more of her growth and i try to not keep track of her capabilities vs other kids (while having a lot of people around me being concerned about her). i tried to always refer to sofia's paediatrician to check if there's something alarming or if we have to get her checked. my mantra is to just let her take her sweet time, with ibu always on her side to encourage her, as long as she grows healthily :D

i learned that if you want to encourage the kid to start crawling, you can start by doing tummy time as early as the baby can handle. when she started to get used to laying on her tummy, she learned how to roll over so quick! some ways that i tried to get her rolling is to play some high sensory videos or putting her favorite toys at a place where she has to stretch and eventually roll over :D

i foresee sofia might share the same interest in luffy as her father hmm

one thing that i love and i sincerely hope that this specific behavior stays-- she loves to babble! i am delusional but i take what i can get when i hear she cries 'eeeyboooo' when she's hungry, asking to be fed or just wants to cuddle with me. i mean, what mother wouldn't let down tears of happiness hearing their kid calling out her name right!! and she babbles every time, every day. i love all the small conversations we have, all her noises. luckily for hazim, her most fluent word to say nowadays is "bapak" ~roles eyes~

i really do hope that sofia grows up knowing that i'd give up everything for her to always make conversations with me <3

i am a tv-mother lol. i mean, i planned to not expose sofia to screens (managed to gatekeep her from mobile phones still tho haha) but to be honest, it's hard. i'm lucky she's in school for one third of the day because then i can work without having to leave her occupied by the TV. i think by being at school, she develops a very friendly behavior around other kids, most probably because she's used to having a lot of friends at school. i try my best to play with her toys when we're both home so i feel like at least for now, she's very into developing her own skills by playing and interacting with different types of toys.

i dont shop for me i shop for her hehe

by playing with toys, she slowly developed the ability to sit upright either on the ground or on the chair. manifesting for strong and healthy backbone!

can easily bring her to eat out and do grocery runs together :')

our next best interaction is her bites. when she first grew teeth, truth be told it got me scared as hell to feed her we almost resort to stop breastfeeding. but she has this charm that, whenever she bites me, she smiles, as if it's her way to play with me and subhanallah no pain man, no pain haha. her smile really melts me. now she has 4 teeth, 2 at the top and 2 at the bottom (sorry for my lack of knowledge of what these teeth are called T_T).

my manja baby, please stay manja pleasee

eee menunjuk gigi hihi

while i'm ashamed to admit, i didn't had the chance to properly cook after sofia's here because i got occupied with work and focusing to play with her at home and it was not until early november that i found my groove and is able to fit meal prepping into the schedule. but but but, i always cook for sofia since day 1 that she can start eating. and to be honest, preparing her meals have been the highlight of my weekend because she likes my cooking! i mean, she's getting rounder and chubbier. the teachers always says that she loves loves loves to eat and she has a certain behavior and sounds that she makes to get me to feed her. next stop is to try and let her learn to self-feed.

at 11 and half months old, she finally woke up one day and decided to show her mom that she can crawl! i mean, i've been scared and anxious for 4 months because every kid around her seemed to be able to crawl at a younger age. but as soon as i saw she did it, all of my bad thoughts went away, i've stopped comparing her to everyone and i was just so elated! sofia, please know this that i am so happy and you are the one who made me happy <3

dear sofia, please know that your arrival is the best thing that ever happened to me (on par with me having your father by my side hehe). i promise to always encourage and cheer for you, be proud and happy of every small and big milestones and be your #1 supporter, forever and always <3

Thank you for reading this entry :D

psa: covid might be on the rise again so please mask up my good fella

sofia ep 2: breastfeeding sofia

assalamualaikum

i rasa macam masa berjalan sekejap tahun ni? mungkin sebab i have less time to... i don't know. less time to really experience things? what's interesting is, along with the time speeding away from me, i get to see sofia's fat accumulating, her feet kicking ever so rapidly, her hands scratching my face and pulling my hair strands and her voice fills the house with joy (and cries). oh my god, the whole thing was just breathtaking. sejak ada anak ni, lebih amplified nampak kebesaran allah. 

sofia sekarang dalam fasa exploring her limb movements. bila letak dia atas playmat, dia cuba nak berpusing kiri kanan, from back to tummy and tummy to back. then dia juga cuba untuk explore kebolehan badan dia untuk duduk, for the first few times i let her sit in a tripod position, just to let her know that she can balance her body and it only took a few tries for her to be able to hold her body now. 

while also observing her growth, pejam celik pejam celik, she's already six months, all grown up and always filling up the room with chuckles. i treat every single milestone of hers as a victory. tapi dalam berbangga dengan apa yang sofia dah boleh buat, i was reminded by myself untuk give hazim and myself a pat on the back for doing our best to assist sofia's growth. dan dalam banyak banyak pengorbanan yang i buat, i am most proud of myself sebab berjaya breastfeed sofia selama 6 bulan (and counting), alhamdulillah.

ni bukan certificate official daripada mana mana badan atau kkm ya. ni cuma cert dalam support group breastfeeding saja untuk encourage breastfeeding among mothers.

before mula share pasal breastfeeding, i nak buat disclaimer. i tak condemn susu formula. sharing harini adalah sebab ilmu i limited pada susu badan sebab i hanya bagi sofia susu badan setakat ni. malah i tak oppose pun kalau suatu hari i dah tak dapat nak susun jadual pump untuk i mula bagi sofia susu formula sebab yang lebih penting dari jenis susu itu adalah kesihatan dan kesejahteraan anak itu sendiri. semua ibu adalah ibu yang berjaya regardless of susu apa yang dia bagi anak dia minum.

masa mengandung trimester ketiga, i came across a tiktok pasal penyusuan susu ibu that piqued my interest. dan bermula dari situlah i berazam untuk mencuba sehabis baik, dengan segala daya dan percaya bahawa allah akan rezekikan i dengan kesenangan untuk menyusukan sofia dengan susu ibu sampai umur dia dua tahun. jadi i mula tengok video tiktok tentang breastfeeding. nak katakan aturan allah tu kan cantik, rupanya sekarang mmg tengah musim banyak wanita wanita yang advocate kepada susu ibu. sanggup masuk kelas, belajar dan ambil sijil untuk jadi certified breastfeeding counselor. i bersyukur dapat jumpa sumber untuk belajar tentang cara nak menyusu, macam mana nak semangat menyusu and of course cara nak handle susu ibu.

sampai sekarang i still dalam support group ibu ibu menyusu ni. diorang selalu share tips, jawab kemusykilan dan it's not limited to breastfeeding, diorang juga saling sama meraikan progress anak anak lain which makes me so happy.

i dedicate this post. to my present and future friends who is a mother, to encourage and lift up your spirit to breastfeed <3. i akan share sedikit sebanyak ilmu yang i belajar, berserta pengalaman i menyusukan sofia for you to refer to, insyaAllah.

#1 bila nak mula menyusu?

kalau direct feed, boleh mula setelah baby lahir. expect some unfamiliar feeling/pain masa mula2 anak nak latch sebab dia baru aje lahir dan baru saja nak dapat skill menyusu. give your kids time. tapi the pain will subside in time, this i can promise. and what's better is that bila sofia dah 5-6 months, dia menyusu sambil senyum senyum, sengih sengih. oh god, what a glorious view.

jangan risau tentang kepekatan atau jumlah susu masa mula mula lahir sebab it's a fact yang allah buatkan susu ibu ni with all his magic. sesikit mana pun susu yang dapat kita kumpul, percaya anak kita akan kenyang. dan perut bayi awal awal kelahiran masih kecil so dia tak makan banyak. even sikit pun, komposisi susu ibu tu dah cukup untuk tampung keperluan nutrient anak. this, you have to believe.

jangan pressured bila orang sekeliling doubt pada kita, kenyang ke anak kita dengan susu 2oz contohnya. my past experience told me that the presssure only made me feel like i have to feed sofia more, dan akhirnya dia muntah/jeluak sebab terlebih kenyang. so trust the process.

kalau pump pula, atau marmet, jangan mula atau cuba cuba masa pregnant sbb hormon yang relates to the production of milk can cause contractions so selagi tak beranak, takyah cuba nak keluarkan susu okay. jangan cakap acik tak kabor hehe.

#2 macam mana nak susun jadual pump

susu ibu terhasil dengan komposisi terbaik kalau diperah maximum 4 jam sekali. kalau lebih tu yang kadang akan ternampak macam susu tu cair aje. susu yang nampak cair atau lebih jernih ni dipanggil foremilk, dan dia boleh hilangkan haus baby.

let me share you a magical story. mid year haritu musim panas. i perasan yang despite being very careful with my pumping schedule tapi i still nampak susu kadang macam lebih banyak yang cair dari yang pekat? so i read up, asked around. remember when i said allah made breastmilk as if it's a magic potion? so komposisi susu akan berubah automatically ikut keperluan anak. musim panas, anak mungkin dahaga lebih, jadi susu lebih cair. hindmilk yang lebih pekat akan buat baby kenyang. no worries, susu akan always datang dengan both foremilk and hindmilk kalau betul betul jaga jadual menyusu and pump so anak akan hilang dahaga dan kenyang :D

i dah try macam macam schedule so let me share what works for me. i am a working mom, and this schedule works for my office schedule as well.

direct feed on demand. i stop direct feeding at 6:30am and send sofia to school by 7am if i need to go to the office. i usually pick her up at school the earliest at 5:30pm and latest by 6:50pm so as soon as we're home, i will direct feed her again.

when i was working from the office, i usually will pump at 10am, 1pm and 4pm. ada wiggle room kalau sampai office lambat, ada meeting ad hoc atau balik lunch lambat. ada aje hari hari yang buat 2 kali instead of 3, ikut keadaan. yang penting jaga waktu pump. 

nursing room at maxis :D

#3 breastfeeding starter kit

for non working moms, boleh aje sentiasa opt for direct feed. tapi ada juga ibu yang nak jadi exclusively pumping mom, which is also great. for me, i do mixed mode. i direct feed when sofia is with me, and pump when she's away. jadi for me, what i need is a high quality and heavy duty handsfree pumps, milk storage bottle to pack for school and breastmilk storage untuk buat stock. here are my recommendations:

breastpump - autumnz marvel x2

i selalu akan pump dua serentak untuk jimat masa, and i pump min 20 mins per session. depending on where i'm at, i usually also go for max 30 mins per session. please don't pump for more than 30 mins because it may harm your breasts tissues. i haven't tried any other so i cannot do comparison but for me, these pumps get the job done so i'm happy with it. ada setengah orang maybe lebih suka pakai pump corong and manual which is also fine. just find whatever works for you.

shopee link: click here

price per pump: RM216

spareparts: click here

milk storage

i have a weird thing with milk storage. i find it that i lebih bersemangat nak pump kalau i punya milk storage tu corak dia berbagai bagai. so i selalu cari dekat shopee yang murah, ada banyak corak atau warna and of course, affordable.

so far i dah cuba pigeon, corak around the world. cantik and durable, tapi pricey so i stopped using it.

shopee link: click here

price: RM16.90 (25pcs 5oz)

then for the longest time i pakai momohouse punya. i always opt for 5oz storage. i beli one of each pattern in bulk for 1-1.5 months use. this one is very cheap and menarik.

shopee link: click here

price: RM4.18 (30pcs 5oz)

then sekarang i pakai from emi. i ubah sebab i terjumpa this brand and this time yang bertukar bukan pattern aje tapi color sekali. it's also durable, and i like it more sebab dia ada bigger space untuk i label nama, tarikh and volume susu.

shopee link: click here

price: RM3.25 (25pcs 5oz)

storage bottle (to pack to sofia's school)

handling ebm (expressed breast milk) lain dengan handling formula. formula is easier, we can just pack our formula and mention the ratio of our mixture to the teachers at school for them to mix. kalau ebm, kita tak boleh bancuh. best quality breastmilk is the one that is not warmed up, sebab tu mudah kalau boleh ajar anak minum susu sejuk dari chiller tapi jangan la sejuk sangat. just nice aje. 

so untuk mengelakkan cross contamination, selalunya i will pack 6 botol susu sofia (sekarang 5 sebab dia dah mula makan) siap siap so teachers tak payah tuangkan dari milk storage and boleh terus bagi sofia minum. my favorite brand is from pump on the go, teat dari pupici. cheap and durable.

shopee link: click here

breastpad

shopee link: click here

price: RM11.59 (100pcs)

office bag + cooler bag

i survey, ada 2 jenama cooler + office bag yang high quality which is Gabag and Princeton. i beli Gabag Damar. my review is, it gets the job done, tapi boleh jadi bulky. dari segi keselamatan, tiptop sbb laptop and barang2 dekat compartment laptop tak pernah basah or rosak. ice gel packs tahan selama 6-8 jam waktu berkerja. if i have a budget to improve, i nak beli another one yang office bag belah atas, and cooler bag belah bawah sebab Damar ni depan belakang sebab tu nampak bulky. kalau atas bawah, nak cari yang detachable juga sebab senang nak bawa pergi nursing room and boleh guna time jalan2 juga.

shopee link: click here

price: RM169.00

ice packs

i pernah cuba ice packs from autumnz and gabag and i would say gabag's is better. untuk beg sofia, i letak 2x 500g ice packs, and 3x 200g ice packs tahan from 7am - 7pm untuk susu dalam botol. dalam office bag i bawa 1x 500g tahan around same time untuk susu dalam milk storage.

shopee link: click here

price: RM9.67 (500g), RM6.89 (200g)

nursing cover

i tak invest sangat dekat nursing shirts/blouse sebab i tak jumpa yang zip panjang enough, stylish enough atau affordable enough untuk i yang nak menyusu lama ni. macam bazir beli banyak. so i pakai je baju macam biasa. i would say i benefit more dekat kemeja. lebih versatile untuk pergi kerja. so dengan itu, nursing cover sangat penting. this is my nursing cover:

shopee link: click here

price: RM14.20

milk collector

this could be essential especially masa awal awal nak mula menyusu and nak biasakan diri dengan milk let down. i ada beli dua jenis milk collector tapi i lagi suka yang egg-shaped punya. tapi honestly skrg i dah jarang guna so i wouldn't say this is a must-have. just good to have.

shopee link: click here

price: RM20.90

shopee link: click here

price: RM19.90

#4 apa nak buat kalau stock habis?

i mula pump lepas sofia dah sebulan. seeloknya pump lepas pantang lagi bagus. kalau nak pump sejurus lepas baby lahir pun boleh, tapi tak digalakkan sebab the first month kita menyusu untuk bagi badan kita kenal berapa oz keperluan susu anak kita. contoh bila kita direct feed 20 mins, assume anak dapat 2oz then dia kenyang. tanpa break, kita pun pump for another 20 mins untuk dapatkan lagi 2oz, otak kita tak dapat bezakan ini hisapan anak atau pump jadi dia terus signal dekat otak yang kita kena keluarkan 4oz. so bila otak kita proses amount yang lebih banyak, breast kita akan hasilkan susu secara oversupply so akan berisiko untuk bengkak susu. 

i mula kumpul stock while masih dalam maternity leave, jadi i rasa selesa dah nak pergi kerja atau hantar sofia ke sekolah sebab ada stock. jadi i took my stock for granted by tak carefully plan berapa susu nak thaw bila keluar on weekends, skip pump sessions dsb. so akhirnya i diuji dengan tak cukup stock susu. i kena kais pagi makan pagi untuk susu sofia.

jadi apa nak buat bila ini terjadi? boleh tandem with pump or not. tandem means, sambil menyusu sebelah, sambil tadah atau pump lagi sebelah. slow slow kena buat, and kena kental jaga jadual pump untuk restock susu. at one point tu susu stock yang frozen tak ada lansung. semua susu yang pump, sempat dalam chiller sehari and terus guna untuk pack ke sekolah keesokan hari. to be honest, i'm still at this phase tapi dah tak struggle, it has been a part of the routine.

#5 berapa banyak nak bekalkan susu ke sekolah?

sofia mula masuk taska masa dia nak masuk 3 bulan. i experiment je sebab before that, i direct feed dia so i tak tahu berapa oz dia minum per feeding. so i research and ask around, i decided nak start bagi 2.5oz per bottle, i pack 6 bottles per day. more often than not, mesti akan berbaki satu by the end of the day. so i conclude dia minum 12.5oz per day. 

so i'm going to suggest the same, maybe can start with 2oz too. 

bila sofia dah mula makan, i hanya perlu pack 5 bottles. kat sini nak share lagi 1 kebesaran allah berkaitan susu ibu ni. komposisi nutrient susu ibu berubah ikut keperluan anak kan. so tak perlu tambahkan amount susu per feeding sebab bila dia makin besar, dia makin kurang perlukan susu. kalau nak naikkan pun, dari 2.5oz ke 3oz dah memadai. nilai kalori and zat dalam susu tu akan berubah seiringan usia dan keperluan bayi so ibu ibu yang berniat nak menyusu badan jangan rasa takut tak dapat kejar demand anak bila dia makin besar sebab realitinya, your yield doesn't have to increase, and your kid will still be able to feel full. 

beg susu sofia sekarang, 5x susu, 2 bekal makanan, 4oz air kosong

#6 tips jaga susu

ini penting. susu ibu, cerewet sikit untuk jaga, tapi tak susah. 

pertama, ketahanan susu.

susu yang fresh diperah/pump tahan dalam suhu bilik maximum 2 jam ikut cuaca malaysia. jadi lepas pump, seeloknya cepat2 masuk chiller. 

bila dia dalam chiller, dia akan tahan maximum 5 hari. lepas 5 hari, naikkan ke freezer. dalam chiller ni, jangan letak dekat pintu sebab pintu tu kita selalu buka, suhu dia tak tentu. letak bahagian dalam.

kalau nak campur susu berlainan tarikh, kiraan jangka hayat susu dalam chiller akan ikut tarikh susu yang lebih lama. 

susu dalam freezer tahan maximum 3 bulan. lepas 3 bulan jangan guna. kalau susu frozen dah thaw, tahan 24 jam sahaja and tak boleh freeze balik. cara nak buang susu yang dah rosak ialah kena tuangkan dia dibawah air yang mengalir. 

susu yang dah kena air liur bayi tahan 1 jam saja dari masa bayi mula minum. 

cara nak thaw susu ada beberapa. boleh rendam dalam air, atau transfer dari freezer ke chiller semalaman. kedua, boleh lalukan bawah air paip sampai cair. kalau nak rendam, ratio air kenalah 1 cawan air panas dengan 2 cawan air suam. tak boleh microwave atau rebus atau rendam dalam air panas gelegak sebab nanti nutrient susu rosak. kalau boleh ajar anak minum susu sejuk, lebih baik sebab bila susu dipanaskan, nutrient dia kurang.

bila nak bekalkan pada pengasuh/taska, susun/label susu ikut aturan nak bagi pada anak. 

aturan anak minum susu: susu frozen (sebab tahan 24 jam je lepas thaw) > susu fresh (sebab tahan max 2 jam lepas perah) > susu chiller (sebab selagi tak sentuh, boleh continue simpan dalam peti untuk guna esok hari selagi tak lebih 5 hari)

contoh macam i, susu 1-4 i akan pack susu freezer yang dah thaw. susu 5-6 ialah susu chiller sebab i tak pump belah pagi.

#7 mana nak belajar tentang susu?

boleh cari tiktok creator @PC Syud, Nad Masrom. dua ni sumber ilmu i yang paling i refer. Nad Masrom kadang kadang adakan kelas, PC Syud siap buat support group so boleh la belajar dari mereka.

semoga perkongsian ni membantu my fellow friends yang nak cuba menyusu okiee.

Thank you for reading this entry :D

sofia ep 1: sofia's first quarter in the world

assalamualaikum

since i have became a mom, i feel like it's important for me to keep as many memories of my daughter. i can only imagine that one day when sofia grows up, she can go on my blog and read up stuffs about when she was little. also, i realized that i'm coming back to work very soon and when i look at sofia, oh my she's grown so much. she's the length of my shoulder to shoulder and she occupies the whole diaper changing table now. she's freaking 3 months old. i feel like, kejap je pejam celik mata dia nanti akan dah boleh meniarap, merangkak, berjalan and bercakap. the time when she's an infant is just so short :')

sofia's first month

in her early days on the earth, dia sangat pendiam. masa majlis akikah dia, dia sgt cooperate, tak merengek, tak menangis kecuali bila dia lapar. god how i wish dia stay a quiet kid yang tak menangis bcs when she cries, the first-time-mother in me terus jammed tak tahu nak buat apa hahaha. it's hard to ignore and ferberize, tapi sometimes bila layan sangat it's tiring. luckily i have hazim yang tak berkira nak take turns console dia bila dia meraung.

sofia's first days. crying bila lapar or nak tukar diaper je hahaha

sofia balik kampung for akikah. behave je all through the majlis.

i have this view of sofia yang i paling suka tengok waktu dia kecil-- i suka tengok dia menggeliat. this is one of the first videos yang i capture masa dia menggeliat in her first month.

video is only available on desktop site. screenshots provided for mobile site :D

masa i discharged from hpj, i remember the nurse pesan utk buat tummy time dgn anak and in case you didn't know, it's safe to do as early as 1 day after birth. tapi i tak ada la buat terus sbb i pun sakit luka bersalin lagi semua. i think i started 3 weeks after giving birth?

kesian anak ibu, muka tak larat hehe. 

i only do tummy time less than 1 min per session before her first month. so apa kesan tummy time ni dkt sofia? it helps her ability to hold up her head. and some knowledge sharing, when you train your baby to do tummy time, it might be easier for them to roll over and merangkak. tapi apa apapun, jangan la force your baby, things take time. so kalau dia ended up lambat juga meniarap or merangkak, jangan marah or frustrated dengan dia. keep helping them to learn okie :D

my baby holding her head up at 2 months :'D

if you haven't heard about it, babies will go through growth spurts multiple time in their early days. so cerita dia, i didn't know about that until it happened. if you ask me what is it exactly, sofia's behaviour started to change. daripada jadi diam je, dia tiba2 kuat menangis. she's screaming bloody murder throughout the night dan dia tak nak kena letak, she wants to be held ALL THE FREAKING TIME. her first growth spurt lasted us around 1 and a half weeks. so apa jadi lepas fasa beralih bulan tu? tiba2 kitorang found out that she's already kicking her legs! oh my how exciting. skrg tugas nak change diaper jadi makin mencabar sebab kaki dia asyik nak menendang hahaha.

it's just small kicks but it makes ibu proud :')

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dia also gain the ability to do big movements sampai bila kena bedung pun dia dah sneakily able to take out her hands hahaha. tidur pun macam macam pesen dah anak ibu ni.

sofia's second month

up until now, i continue buat tummy time for sofia. so entering her second month, we learned that along with the last growth spurt, dia juga dah kenal fungsi tangan dia. so when she's being nursed or just idly laid down, tangan dia akan bergerak2 in the motions of combing her hair, wiping her face mcm tu. 

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she's also able to track moving things juga so pretty soon we can play peek-a-boo with her!

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then quite nearing her third month, dia mengalami fasa mental leap which is also similar dgn growth spurt. she cries a lot, she didn't want to be put down and she became very fussy. tapi time ni, instead of feeling tired to keep up with her, i rasa sayu sebab i rasa she knew that she gonna have to go to school soon, she's gonna spend half a day away from her parents. oh how i wish i can work while keeping her around :'(

during the mental leap phase, one of her biggest skill gain is the ability to mimic the movement of hazim's and my lips to create sounds. so it's not just merengek rengek, skrg her cries mcm almost sounds like talking. ada bunyi vowels aeiou and ada intonation mcm nak minta ibu cepat2 check diaper or feed her or sometimes dia just menangis tipu2 sebab nak ajak ibu and bapak main.

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after her mental leap phase ni juga dia dah faham orang agah2 dia and dah pandai balas senyuman. oh so glorious the first time we saw she smiled when we joked around with her.

sofia and bapak <3

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at this point juga kaki dia dah sangat kuat menendang to the point yang kalau dia excited (or crying), dia punya kaki tu berjaya seret diaper mat jatuh ke lantai hahaha. memang buat modal gelak aje budak kecik ni.

sofia's third month

now she's entering her third month, she's starting school and she's a big girl now. she unlocked some new skills mcm dah pandai menggengam, reaching bapak's beard and ibu's jari to bring to her mouth. dia also dah started to understand textures sebab apparently dia sgt suka main janggut bapak dia hahaha.

our bonding time <3

leaving sofia at school :')

dear sofia, i'll keep documenting your growth here so one day when you come across here, you know how much ibu and bapak love you <3

Thank you for reading this entry :D