Happy 4 Months old Aiden!

And so Aiden is 4 months old. Time sure flies nowadays!

So what can he do now? He is able to roll over on his own, therefore no more sleeping on the couch during the day. He has now been banished to sleeping on his playmat on the floor. He is able to roll over from one end to the other end of the playmat and spends most of his time on his tummy. Tummy time, I call it.

He is always holding his hand out to grab things. He especially loves to touch handphones and TV remotes. Recently we were all on the bed, and hubby’s handphone, which was also on the bed, started ringing. But we were all too lazy to pick it up, and suddenly Aiden reached out and actually grabbed it! Haha… soon Mummy’s crystal collection would have to be packed safely into boxes!

He enjoys looking at the mirror, although he is still oblivious to the fact that the smiley baby in the mirror is actually him. He loves playing Peek-A-Boo with Daddy, and is trying very hard to enjoy himself whenever Daddy tosses him in the air. I think he is secretly scared of the speed in which Daddy whizzes him through the air, but being the good sport that he is, there is always a teeny weeny hint of a smile at the end.

Aiden enjoys going out, and doesn’t mind being strapped down in his stroller – provided that his stroller is movingggggggggg… Even if we’re waiting for/in the elevator, the stroller has to be moving, so usually Daddy gets the task of pushing the stroller round and round and round while Mummy pushes the elevator button impatiently (as if that is going to make it go faster!).

However he hates the car seat, and is forever struggling to get out of his harness. If he is not strapped down, he would simply wiggle downwards until half of his body sticks out of the car seat. Not to mention shout (not cry, mind you!) until you pick him up and “stand” him facing the car window so that he can watch other cars whiz by.

Aiden has also inherited a trait from both Mummy and Daddy – he is NOT a morning person. Therefore his sleeping pattern mimics both of us, in the sense that he’s still awake at 1:30 in the morning, and still asleep at 1:30 in the afternoon. However, Dr Padma went ballistic when she heard about this – so we are trying really hard to change his sleeping time to one that is more suitable for a baby! Which is not an easy task! Ask my neighbours – they’ll vouch for our attempts to get Aiden to sleep amidst the crying and wailing. Which was why we had to resort to the pacifier at night. *sigh* That is probably the biggest failure I have felt as a Mummy to-date, apart from having to feed him formula milk.

Aiden is also starting to use his gums more often. I suspect that he is teething, but books I read keep telling me it is too early. He is always biting his teats in between his feedings, and he keeps pulling my knuckles towards his mouth to bite them. No joke, his gums are really strong and my knuckles are always sore after! If there aren’t any teats or knuckles around, he resorts to sucking his hand. Yes, his hand – because he still cannot figure out how to stick his thumb out to suck. So his whole hand goes into the mouth, sometimes two or three fingers at once, and if he sticks it in too far he’ll start coughing and retching, which of course causes Mummy to jump up in panic.

Nowadays, he consumes at least 4oz of milk each feeding. He also seems to understand that his bottle means milk. Whenever he is crying for milk, he would instantly stop wailing as soon as he sees the bottle. When the bottle is brought close to him, he would use both his hands to pull it even closer. Very impatient!

Aiden Irfan, you’re definitely the apple of our eyes!

Of Property and Houses

After our first milestone of the year (delivering Aiden!), we are now changing gears, preparing ourselves for our second milestone – moving to our new home! Yes, yes I know I have forever been complaining about moving to Shah Alam, and those close to me knows how frustrated I am with the fact that my new house shares a wall with a Pencawang Electric (PE, Electric Substation).

First things first. Why the hell did we buy a house beside a PE? Well first and foremost, we were told that there would be a gap between the PE wall and our house wall, and it was the only available end lot house. I especially loved the fact that it is located at a dead end (my current house is at a dead end and therefore I get very suspicious whenever I see a non-familiar car parked near the house), it is close to the surau, and quite close to the guard house. I wasn’t banking on the fact that we were going to be neighbours with the PE! And just recently, a friend commented that purchasing a property so close to a PE would just make it a bit more harder to sell in the future! *sigh*

However, we are mighty excited as this is OUR first house. By OUR, I mean that the monthly installments are deducted from both of our salaries. I am especially excited over the semi-d end lot design (current house is intermediate link), huge garden (30 feet to be exact!), the tower design (which can be converted into another floor/attic), the patio (which can be turned into a breakfast area cum water feature) and the fact that we get to decorate the interiors with our own modern contemporary style (current house was decorated by my late mum and has more neutral woody colours). And psssttt… there is a plot of unclaimed land right behind the PE which we are planning to use as a future area for picnics and BBQs!

It also gives me the opportunity and alasan to finally get rid of nearly half of MY junk in the current house. I just can't help it! I inherited the “I need to keep everything including my first ever 100% graded paper in Std 3, UPSR/PMR/SPM papers, cheerleading outfit” (… you get the drift) trait from my Mummy!

And our new house in Shah Alam is located in a peaceful environment, amidst greenery, vegetation, leaves, grass… okay you get the drift. And there is a clubhouse equipped with an Olympic size swimming pool, kiddies pool, gym, jogging/bicycle track… simply said - stuff to keep Aiden and Daddy occupied during the weekends. Not to mention, the people in our community (online and offline) are friendly and pleasant. And deep down in my heart, I know that Shah Alam is a suitable place to raise a family. I have had enough of noisy cars and motorcycles piercing the calm of my night!

So, I present to you our 75% completed house! (Taken with several different cameras at different times which explains the different hues of the pictures...)

Cahaya SPK is having their first Residents Association (RA) meeting this weekend, where we will finally get to meet people whom we have only met through the internet. Can’t wait!

Weight Management

A close friend, who reads my blog religiously, piped up one day during an outing: “I read your latest post – after your long hiatus. So what exactly do you do at work?”

I paused, looked at her, and started laughing. Because I knew that by telling her what exactly I am up to these days at work – she would be rolling on the floor laughing. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a way out, as she was staring expectantly at me, waiting for an answer.

Me: Weight management.
Her: I know that’s what you’re obsessed with, but really, what do you do at work?
Me: I’m serious! Weight management!
Her: Yeah right!

I am totally serious people. Not only am I obsessed with my weight since passing a 4.07kg being from my body – I am also obsessed with the weight of my current project. Let me try explaining this in layman terms. As I work in the Deepwater business in the Upstream sector, my oil sucking projects are generally non-shallow water projects. And because the water is soooooo deep, it would cost too much money to stake these oil-sucking (and/or processing) babies to the sea bed. Instead, these babies are made to float and are anchored to the seabed using mooring mechanisms such as chains, tendons etc. Since they are floaters, they are designed and built to support a certain amount of weight, which if you exceed would cause it to catastrophically sink. Therefore, it is MY job to be obsessed with the current weight and any other increases/decreases in weight that may impact my floaters. In a nut shell - Weight Management! Simple enough? It is not as easy as it sounds, people! It is as hard as me trying to get rid of these last 5 kgs from my body. Excruciating!

When I was pregnant, it used to be a joke among my colleagues due to the irony of the situation. Imagine a pregnant woman (who would obviously be overweight!) managing the weight of a project. Once, when I was about a month shy from my delivery date, I was called into the meeting room to clarify on a few points excerpted from a document I wrote. It was an external meeting, and the document was called the "Weight Management Plan". When I walked in (bulging tummy and all), the lead engineer told the room "So, this is our Weight Engineer!". After a moment of silence, the room erupted with laughter - not only from my mischievous bosses, but also from the visitors, people whom I have not met in my whole life!

Wicked, eh?

Doddles of a Working Mum

It has been ages since I last wrote. As anticipated, both Aiden and work have consumed most of my time. I am no longer a lady of leisure, though I have to admit, it is nice to be back at work. It is nice to have a reason to wake up early in the morning (as opposed to my tendency to stir from sleep whenever Aiden decides to), to have a reason to dress up (as opposed to my penchant for T-shirts and Bermuda shorts at home), and to interact with other career oriented people throughout the day (as opposed to sitting glued in front of the laptop with Aiden in hand).

My first day at work was quite eventful. Apart from fielding various compliments such as “Wow, you look hot gurl!” and “ Eh, you kena gelek ngan steam roller ke?” I had 417 unread emails in my inbox and was already attending meetings and handovers.

My boss had assigned a senior engineer to handle my workload while I was away. Surprisingly, I am quite territorial with my work responsibilities. I immediately made myself busy trying to catch up with all the changes that has happened, planted myself firmly into any discussion or meetings that had anything to do with my work, and has since made the workload mine again. Yes, very territorial!

Since I started working, I can no longer find the time to cook! I’ve cooked dinner a grand total of twice in the past 2 weeks. I made another batch of chocolate chip cookies – well I measured the ingredients and made Bibik do all the work, so does that count? Haha.

Apart from my workload, I religiously attend to my weekly workout as well. This week is the final workout before measurement day next week. My Red Spartans team needs to win this challenge, as we are currently neck-to-neck with the Green team for the overall Healthy Lifestyle Challenge win. And with the puasa ganti marathon I’ve been doing for the past 2 weeks, hopefully we’ll taste victory!

As for Aiden, he is as chubby as ever. He has an apparent dislike for the McDonalds corporation (and the Old MacDonald nursery rhyme), and has successfully meniarap a grand total of three times. Aiden also attended his first black tie event – in which he donned a black tuxedo, complete with a black cummerbund and a red bow! Which reminds me, I need to chase the photographer for the official pictures from that night.

My alma mater also held their gala reunion yesterday – it was interesting to watch old girls catch up in their finest dresses in the middle of Pavilion, and envisage us (me and the BBGS gang) like them 15 years down the line.

Till I find the time to doodle again, Ta!