Ian's Majlis Bertahnik

Totally a throwback post. We had a small low key gathering of close neighbours and close friends for Ian's majlis bertahnik. Alhamdulillah, despite the epidural failure and super dramatic labour, my post delivery recovery went very very well. Since a majlis bertahnik is typically held in the first 7days of a baby's life, I vividly remembered having a very hard time preparing myself to receive guests during Aiden's majlis bertahnik. On the contrary, come Ian's turn, I was up and about and actually helping out with the preparation of the house, going into the kitchen to supervise the progress of my MIL's soto ayam and laying out the cutlery and serving bowls! Hubby was so sweet, he kept insisting that I rest and let him handle the preparation..... up until the guests arrived and I realised that no one remembered to prepare drinks!

Ian at 3 days old! Smiling in his sleep.

The baby hat is a hand me down from Aiden - on one side it says Aiden Irfan, so since it's another boy, I decided to go on with the tradition and quilted Ian's name on the other side. Hopefully #3 is not a boy, as I have ran out of places to quilt a third name on the hat!

This one is exactly like Aiden - his face looks like he's constantly thinking.

Picture of Ian taken when he was 4 days old. Masalah dunia apa is going through his head? 

Morning of majlis bertahnik. Ian at 5 days old. He looked like he had slight dimples on both sides, but sadly I haven't seen them since.

And so Ian's majlis bertahnik was held when he was just 5 days old. We invited the same ustaz that did the same majlis for Aiden 5 years ago. Courtesy of Wikipedia:

"Majlis Bertahnik atau Majlis Belah Mulut merupakan upacara sunat yang diharuskan dalam Islam. Setelah bayi dilahirkan, mulutnya harus dibelah menggunakan kurma atau manisan. Campuran kurma dan air zam zam yang sudah dihancurkan dibacakan ayat suci Al-Quran oleh orang warak atau ustaz lalu melalukan kurma tersebut di bibir bayi dan menggosokkannya ke dalam mulut bayi dan lelangitnya sehingga ke pangkal rongga tekak bayi. Tujuan bertahnik adalah untuk menguatkan saraf mulut bayi bagi persediannya untuk menghisap susu dengan sempurna. Ia juga untuk mendapat keberkatan dari orang orang alim dan ulama semoga kelak dia akan menjadi seorang yang beriman dan soleh apabila dewasa.”

The ustaz preparing himself, my FIL cooing to Ian while I was (in the background) silently hoping that Ian wouldn't scream his lungs out.

The men in the house.

Ustaz reciting the Quran.

Ustaz giving Ian a taste of honey, dates and air zam zam. Air zam zam so that his soul is as pure as the water from heaven. Honey and dates so that his words are always sweet to the ears.

Cukur jambul.

We also had a small cukur jambul ceremony after bertahnik. I say small because I am planning a separate cukur jambul ceremony (similar to Aiden's Naik Buai) after my confinement ends. Cukur jambul is often referred to as baby's first haircut. I was so excited over Ian's first haircut that I snipped a hair lock way too close to his sculpt! By the end of the ceremony, Ian had bald patches all over his head.

I love this picture. It looks like Ian is cupping his hand to also read the doa together with all of us.

Ignore the chubby cheeks. Hey, at least I could fit into my pre-pregnancy baju kurung!

Dafiya kissing Ian's cheek. Future girlfriend, maybe - since they were both born in the same year?

Since Ian is a boy, it is customary to shave the whole head so that the hair locks can be weighed and its weight in gold (or cash equivalent) is donated to the poor and needy. Ian was born with a head full of hair, although it wasn't as thick as Aiden's luscious locks. With Aiden, we used a hand held razor to manually shave his head. With Ian, Hubby was adventurous enough to use an electric razor! Needless to say there was a lot of drama, shouts and squeals from me as Hubby was shaving Ian's head. I swear, at one point, Hubby wanted to throw the razor across the room! *grin* Hey, after carrying this bundle of joy for 9 months, you can't blame me for being an over protective mother! Ultimately, he got the job done and Ian's dainty locks were weighed to approximately 1 gram. We buried his hair (and what was left of his circumcised penis - yes my boy is already a man!) in the garden of our house.

So here are Ian's last few pictures with hair. In future posts, all you will see is a clean shaven Ian! *giggles*

A wide grin at 6 days old.

Chubby cheeks!

Sleeping comfortably at one week old - the morning before we shaved his head clean.