Ramblings of a Mami of Two

Situation 1: We were at Aidan's open house when Kimi asked me to play carrom with him. Kimi : Mami jom main carrom. Me : Mami tak reti. Kimi : Ala jentik-jentik je. Me : Tak reti. Kimi : Alah, jentik orang reti pulak. Situation 2 We were at Sungai Tekala and Hadi was on my lap, drinking his milk.  Kimi : Mami, saya pegi mandi sungai tau. Me : Wait, takde sapa tengok. Wait for ayah. Kimi : Kan mami ada. Me : Memang ada but I won't be able to go to you if anything happens. Adik belum habis minum. Kimi : Mak-mak lain yang sayang anak dorang tu dia teman je anak dia nak buat apa pun, mandi sungai ke main ke apa-apa lah. Me : *Deep breaths*.  That's my smart-mouthed six year old, and I love him no less than I did years ago.

At 21 months old, we can already have a decent conversation with Hadi. Boleh faham lah apa dia nak. He can repeat what you tell him to say. Ada bunyi la. What Hadi Says What it means You Thank you Babai Bye Nak Nak Mam Makan Num Minum Tutu Susu Kaka Kakak Ka Merdeka / Car Pish Please (sambil cangkung - I have no idea who taught him to cangkung while saying please) Pish fish Tet Cat Tu Two (one, "tu", three) Mi / Mey Mami Kak / Tup Bukak / Tutup (he always confuses bukak with tutup) Ag Hug Bash Bas "Hand to the nose" Elephant Loh Lori and everything else that looks like a lorry, vans included Kan Bukan Ko Go Pek pek "Pok pek pok pek". Yes, I nag a lot at home . Di Gosok gigi Loh Sometimes it sounds like "Alaaaahhh", other times i dont know what he's using it for Bed Bird (yang boleh terbang) Bebed Bird (yang tak boleh terbang) Actually he can repeat most of the word we taught him, but the above are the ones tha...

Penggendong Bayi. Terdapat pelbagai jenis penggendong bayi, yang penting pilih penggendong bayi yang ergonomik , iaitu jenis yang membolehkan bayi digendong knee-to-knee. Yang banyak di pasaraya-pasaraya tu nama dia crotch carrier, atau bila diterjemahkan, dia jadi "penggendong celah kangkang". Dinamakan begitu sebab memang macam tu lah, anak anda digendong dicelah kangkangnya. Posisi ini adalah tidak digalakkan sama sekali kerana ia tidak memberi sokongan yang baik kepada tulang peha anak. Lagipun, sakit oi tergantung dekat "situ". Perbandingan penggendong ergonomik dan penggendong celah kangkang dapat dilihat daripada gambar dibawah: Nampak tak kaki anak tergantung dalam gambar kiri? Bandingkan dengan gambar kanan, dimana posisi kaki anak disokong knee-to-knee. Picture taken from  Merely Mothers Saya tulis sedikit mengenai penggendong yang saya pernah gunakan saja ya. Woven wrap  Woven bermaksud tenunan, dan woven wrap adalah pengge...

Why do I wear Hadi? 1. Because it allows me to  multi-task Four things - one, I can multitask because I have both hands free; second, I have both hands free because I do not have to hold the baby; third, I can go hands-free because I know my baby is safely carried; and four; I can do other things because I have this peace of mind that my baby is safe (close to me, not doing anything out of my eyesight). You see how being hands-free makes you a better mommy already?  I can cook, clean the house, vacuum, play, travel, spend time with Hakimi, go shopping, do groceries, etc, etc because I have both hands free. I don't have to give the "I can't wash the dishes because baby wants mami on the bed with him" because I can be a more comfortable bed for the baby.  2. Because it allows me to be an independent woman (and mommy) I don't have to wait for my husband to come home before I can take my baby to the hospital. I don't have to wait for him ...

So I started to embrace babywearing ever since Hadi was 2 weeks old.  Actually no, since Hakimi was a baby! But back then I didn't know that there is more to babywearing than just "wearing your baby". There is this whole geekery behind it; the types of carriers, the materials, the different brands selling them and most important of all the safety aspects of babywearing. Back then, babywearing to me was just an act of wearing a baby so I don't injure my arm muscles.  Baby's comfort was secondary, although I knew Hakimi was comfortable being worn judging by the number of seconds he took to doze off to lalaland. So I learned to wear Kimi using batik lepas, taught by none other than his bibik. It looked pretty unsafe, with the batik selit-selit just like that, but it was comfortable, and with the right type of batik (non-slippery ones), the selit-selit method is actually pretty sturdy. You can find the tutorial here . Fast forward 5 years later, I found...