What a stupid article....

Check out this link, and read what’s inside.
(http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/10/20/live-porn-aboard-economy-train.html)

I’ll give you 3 minutes.
One, two, three...
Done?
I took me just 10 seconds to read this article before my blood temperature suddenly hit the high note.
The article was named: Live porn aboard an economy train?
It was about how in Indonesia, in the commuter trains in greater Jakarta, people breastfed their children in public, which the article said would make “.....the group of men ... enjoyed free porn that hot day.”
I think it’s sick to say that opening your blouse to breastfeed your baby would be considered as porn. For God sake, it’s an act of Love! Not porn!
The writer wrote,“How can a baby exploit their own mother’s privacy just to satisfy their hunger or thirst?” Again, she hasn’t done her homework. Don’t you know that that’s the only emotion that a baby knows? Babies are not born with database of emotions you know and of course she can’t TALK or find food on her own! She only knows that if she feels hungry, thirsty, wet, or uncomfortable, then she’ll have to grab her mother attention by... of course ,crying!
She mentioned that ‘guys’ kept watching the event curiously. Well, male commuters will always be watching this kind of incident, since commuter train in Jakarta is usually used by people from ‘that’ education level. We can ask the mothers to try covering up the breast, for example with some cloth, or bring some extra formula/breast milk on bottles. But, if these people could afford the luxury of having a breast-cover or a milk bottle, they obviously will take another mode of better but more expensive, transportation, not some low-key economy train.
Looking from the way she wrote this article, this person, whoever wrote it, has never felt the joy of breastfeeding your child, or maybe even worst, never felt the warmth of being breastfed by her mother.
I also believe that she probably never watched “real porn,” before she used this term in her so -called writing.
Please Mrs./ Ms. writer (yes, the name implied that she’s a woman), don’t be a mother , you’ll be ruining a generation or two by telling your daughter to breastfeed is to perform an act of porn. (Or maybe in fact, God had read this article and noticed that you are probably not capable of being a woman or a mother?). And do yourself your homework by watching Asia Carrera or Miyabi before using the word porn unwisely!
Shame on you, for thinking the way you think right now, and shame on Jakarta Post for publishing this article. Congratulation for creating such a low-quality, stirring up article!

The Culprit

Have I told you that I used to have such a tidy-spotless-lovely living room? Well, the term 'used' to is the watchword. It was still possible to keep it clean before Rania started walking, but now? It’s practically not viable. IF I let her alone in the living room, when I came back I would find:
a) A scattered and ripped newspapers
b) Ripped pages from the yellow pages
c) Sofa pillows on the floor
d) A smiling baby tried turning off the TV
e) Or 90% chance, all of the above

So you can imagine, me, running like a frenzied Frankenstein to scoop up my baby, who was trying to put up one of her legs to climb the coffee table in the living room.
I guess those articles on ‘baby-proofing your home’ are true, that once you have a walking baby, men, you will have no time to baby-proof your home.
Just yesterday, I was talking on the phone with my mother on my computer table when I realized some smudges on my white drawers. The smudges were black handprints of 5 little fingers, guess who the culprits was... It took me 30 second to realized the culprit was the smiling baby who sit under the computer table, observing the computer switch box , making decision on which switch to push, he he...

From DIVA: See the world from the eyes of Turike...

Anyway, now her hair is long enough to have a ponytail. Cute, isn’t it?

Elmo and Andrea Bocceli, Rania loves this!

Isn't it cute?

Baby Olympic

Rania is a big girl now. She has yet to walk on her own, but her fave activity is now playing with her push carriage/cart that she got for her 1st birthday form Auntie Wita (thank you Tante). She started by pushing it slowly, but after a couple of hours she was able to grasp and was moving very fast; I ought to register her to Baby Olympic - Cart pushing. We wouldn't now if she would win or not, but otherwise I can start teaching her about ... errr... becoming an ice cream Seller?

My Cupcake

I was so busy with all the rambling thoughts, the vacation, that I forgot to submit this.

31 July 2009

One year ago today, at exactly 3 in the morning I felt a kick on my stomach. I thought I was just being tired because I slept at 12.30. But two more contractions later I realized it was for real; the tiredness had drawn my energy, but the feeling of being able to see my baby soon had eradicated them. At 5 in the morning, me, my husband and my Mom went to the hospital. The sky was pitching black at that moment, but our hearts were pounding with happiness.

We arrived at around 5.45 am and at that moment the effort began: the pain, the throbbing, the thirst and hunger. At 3 pm I started pushing and my lovely hubby helped the process with all his energy, he even held his breath too! Not only that he didn't hesitate in holding her crown or cutting her umbilical cord. You have a very daring Papa, Rania.

And after 14 hours of pain and nearly 3 hours of pushing... you came out. Just one cry and I forgot all the pains, the 38 weeks of carrying you on my tummy...

... And now, look at you. Now you stand up, talk and run with your carriage. I never thought God's Love can come in such an adorable figure.

Happy Birthday my cupcake of blessing. I will always love you as the light and fortune of our life, just like we named you Mayeesha for "life's blessings".

Feeding Rania with love

I started feeding Rania -my now 11 months old baby girl- with solids around six months after her birth. And boy, how she refused….. I need to try several brands of instant baby food before I finally found her favorite. I've tried baby rice cereal, baby cornflakes, baby porridge, baby biscuits; all kind of foods that starts with the word 'Baby' in the front. I've tried all the flavor too: apple, banana, peach, chocolate, strawberry, vanilla even some strange 'exotic' flavor that even I'm not familiar with : peach with sweet potato (what a weird combination),fig with raisin (what?), pomello with beetroot (even I won't eat that). And the taste? They are either too bland or too sour for Rania, the picky eater.

I thought at first this eating-game would be much easier when she's bigger and more conscious, because, maybe, just maybe she starts to grow her hungry pangs. But hell no… the stuff that grow are her legs and tricky brain as her angelic wings and the HALO over her head shrink.

When she started to crawl, then the eating-game developed into a game of cat and mouse, hit and run. Whenever I come with a bowl and spoon and put her on her chair – yes, she has her own pretty yellow chair with cushion and straps – she freaks out. In some events I have to put her on my lap as an alternative. But just when I turn to fill up the spoon, voila, within second she's either half a room away or slipping under the computer table… or in some extreme cases, pressing the buttons on the TV side, changing the channel. The game ends up with me running like a frenzied zombie and scoops her up back to my lap. Not really the end, because I still have to 'swing the spoon' in front of her mouth and say ''aaaaaahhh open your mouth Rania please…", then wait for miracle to come. If she opens her mouth –that's the miracle – I spoon the food in. If not… well, this is where another game starts. It's called the "'Put the chocolate cookie in front of her mouth and when she opens up, scoop in the real food, quick!" And of course, Rania hates this game.

Not only did Rania learn about eating solids this past couple of months, I made some self discovery too. I never thought I have enough the much-needed patience, tolerance and perseverance to conform to a baby roadrunner like her. If she refuses to eat the homemade porridge I made for her and demands for the peanut butter sandwich that I'm having instead, then I need to be tolerant. If she doesn't fancy sitting in her crowning chair during a meal, then I need to be patient and let her sit on my lap. Moreover, if she runs - err I mean crawls - around the room when it comes to meal times, then I need to be firm. And of course, I need to develop a lot of imaginations to come up with mad games, like the "put the chocolate cookie" game. But at the end of the day, no matter how little vegetables Rania eats, we both laugh it out. I would watch her sleep with a smile on her face, have my sentimental cry and realized how much I love her.

Rania is now 11 months old and now she's more tolerable to food, though I still play the "put the chocolate cookie" game occasionally. Up to this day, I still haven't found the right formula to teach her to eat well but I'm sure I'll find one soon. I'm not going to rush it though, because no matter how mischievous Rania is she is only an 11 months baby. I'll have her whole juvenile years to teach her on being independent, let alone on finishing her vegetables portion; so I won't rush it all in the first year. Besides, she has taught me the greatest teaching of all: liberation of my inner unconditional love.

Giggle giggle

Rania's acts everyday just mesmerize me. I would record or make picture of them from my phone and play it before going to bed and just laugh over it with my husband. Including this one where she giggles over small stuff. We played it back to her and she just pointed the screen and giggled back, like she understood that it was a video of her!

I just cherish them at the moment because it's probably the last time she would act like that, because tomorrow, she might do the same act differently :D

What makes a good mother?

What makes a good mother?

A stay at home mum? A mother who breastfeeds and changes nappies? A mother who always say 'yes' to her child?

What makes a bad mother?

A mum who works and has activities of her own? A mother who regularly watches TV and still has time to read books? A mother who didn't breastfeed her baby?

These questions have been running around in my head chasing each other's tails like crazy. And yet I couldn't figure out the answer. So I decided to rewind my memory just trying to seek out some 'aha' moments. (duh! I sound like Oprah don't I?)

Anyway, once upon a time, I had lunch with some bunch of girly mums. We talked and talked and reached a point of discussion of why my baby didn't like to be breastfed because I only produce so little breast milk. And out of the blue, one 'good' mum said that it happened because "You are not passionate enough in breastfeeding your baby." I of course, was left speechless with her statement. Other, told me how a good mother she is by not working and always brings her daughter wherever she goes, shopping, that is.

So a couple of week later, I joined again this group of mums for a shopping spree. I arrived at the scene to find a stroller with a crying –hysterically crying- toddler inside, while the mum – the so called good mum- was inside an fashion store, mix and matching some items. Then the procedure repeated itself in a few more stores. Mum saw a bargain / nice shoe / nice dress / nice earring; mum went in store, left the stroller till baby screamed; mom went to cashier, finished shopping, and strolled down with baby for a while. Then repeat. When I was about to go home, mum got shoes, dress and matching sets of earrings. And baby was in "temper tantrum mode: ON."

On a similar occasion, we, of course, discussed our recent days. I told them I am taking a writing course (stay tune for more stories on my writing course). Some of them became bug-eyed, like saying "what is she doing? Taking a course? In writing?" One of them told me, though, "a writing, a hand-writing course?" she said, "you should ask my daughter to teach you, her teacher told me she has a good handwriting." I again, of course, was IMPRESSED.

I saw moms who said she "did all things possible for her children, all on her own", and yet gained no respect from her kids.

I saw moms who stay home and do all the chores by herself and yet didn't have her words listened by her daughter.

I grew up seeing my mother doing tons of activities.

Some of my friends grew up watching her mother work from 9 to 5 and yet still be able to comment on her daughter's hideous outfits.

I know a mom who didn't breastfeed her daughter at all, but 15 years later spent a day off of work with her daughter to seek David Archuletta's autograph.

So what makes a good mum?

It's not merely about breastfeeding and changing diapers ONLY. It's not only about breastfeeding your daughter exclusively ONLY. It's also about what you "do" in your life and how she sees you as a person. Are you in a time warp that stuck on the day that she was born? Or are you developing yourself?

I guess it's about evolving. Yup, a good mum is an EVOLVING Mum. This means not only that you nurture your child while she grows; you nurture yourself and grow too. So one day you can answer her questions on herbivorous dinosaurs, instead of thinking that it's a new line of shoes by Todd Oldham. And growing and evolving, can only be achieved by being active, a process of learning and adapting. To go out alone without her (well, ONLY if you have somebody to take care of your child) is not a crime. That's what I call 'educated risk'. I don't' think you can do no harm going out once in a while, shopping with your girlfriends, take an art class, get that manicure. And even if you have nobody to take care of your baby, you can always count on the baby's father, right? For example, I know a mum who takes painting lesson during weekend when 'papa' is home.

A couple of hours a week will do, sort of having a lunchbreak from 'mummyhood'. I think it's better than pushing strollers down the shopping lane with a hysterical baby inside.

Rania and the iPod

Mommy, can you add more disney songs to my ipod's playlist? :P

To wean or not to wean

I've heard that weaning period is one of the most difficult periods in a mother's life. And I surely agree.
Not only it's difficult to prepare the food itself, things become more complicated since Rania is a picky eater!
I've tried rice porridge, steam rice with vegetables, all those gerber and heinz bottled food... and her favorite? Just a simple 2 scoops of instant rice milk from nestle. With nothing.

So yesterday I came up with an idea of mixing the rice milk with a stash of blended asparagus and water. Well, she didn't take it well. I decided to give it a try and boy, now I understand why she didn't like it.

So I made a conclusion : even babies like tasty food and their taste buds to be tantalized. So again, with a little bit of kitchen-experiment, I finally came up with a recipe that Rania likes : rice porridge with cheddar cheese with asparagus and corn soup. The porridge will her a full stomach, the cheese to satisfy her palate (if she has any already) and the asparagus and corn for fiber intake. And Voila. A happy Mama and happy Rania... and a gentle tummy. That's right, since we introduced her the recipe, she's been poopoo-ing daily!

Mommy, it hurts!

You never realize how difficult it is to be a mother until you feed her, and you hear her cry for help. And I truly understand the meaning of those words today. 

Rania is now 6 months old, the starting of weaning period. So just like any mother, I've been trying my ass off to feed her. And just like any baby would at first, she refused. It's either she spit it out or she threw off the spoon. Papaya, peaches, or banana. Instant milk rice, bottled pureed or real fruit, I've tried it all. So I thought, what the heck, if she doesn't want to eat then she doesn't want to eat. Well, guess again. 

Today, just this afternoon, suddenly she had constipation, it was so bad, I had to dug out some of her stuff! And what's make it worse, she cried like hell so for a baby as quiet as Rania, that means she really is in deep pain.

After an OMG moment (read: panic attack) at the doctor, she finally can pass some stuff. Like some VERY BIG, THICK stuff. Man! I never thought baby can pass out poo like that!

So in conclusion, turns out that she actually HAS to eat, especially fruit that's rich with dietary fiber. SHOOT! so that's mean I have to FORCE her to eat. 

The moral of the story is: when you are a mom, you have to do your duty even if it will make your baby uncomfortable, like forcing her to eat stuff that she hates. It's better to do that, than to hear her crying for help, trust me. And oh yeah, and the second moral of the story, baby poo stinks, ugh !

Hello From Jakarta (3)

For those of you who thinks that Jakarta is Hell, think again. I went to a hectic trade center (yes, hectic like hell) yesterday and found this baby store. There is not even a proper signage or placement shelf, but the stuff that you found were no lesser than branded stuff in a pricey baby store like mother care or the first few years (In Singapore). And the price? 30%, 40% or even less than 50% off!!
I found this jumparoo ( just like the name, it's like a jumping seat for babies over 6 mths) in Singapore for 240 SGD.

We planned to buy it at first, but then decided to spare some time to think about it. Then, yesterday, out of the blue I found the SAME ITEM exactly, sitting on the floor of the cheap baby store, for how much? No, not 200, not 150, not even 100 SGD... it's only 87.5 SGD!!! CHEAP LIKE HELL!! That's less than half from the original price of a branded baby store in Singapore! I bought the item directly without further ado. Now, I'll search for more bargain items in more places. Perhaps some designer baby bag? Hi hi hi. VIVA Jakarta!

Just some silly post from Jakarta

Finally.. I have arrived in this busiest city in the region... oops sorry.. the CROWDIEST (is there such a word?) in the region...

The sight, smell and sound...

Jakarta, Jakarta, Jakarta.. I welcome my self in ur arm (he he he..)

Rania was a bit awkward when we arrived last nite, we spent like an hour trying to calm her down, I guess she was a bit of afraid of the high ceiling and the bright lamps and the BIG room (compared to her room).
But today she's already adjusting, she did some bird watching and met some of her cousins who came by.

AND she ate her first portion of peach and BANANA! and she liked it (although she didn't dig peach that much). I guess deep down inside she's still a tropical girl.

Anyway, gotta go now. I'm gonna keep posting more stories from Jakarta tomorrow.

Rania's New Job : Forest Ranger

Hi, I'm Rania, Boogie-Jungle Ranger

To keep in shape, I do some baby wiggle in the morning

Followed by some push-ups

This is me, look how happy I am with my job!

But, afterwards, I become soo tired...

And my Lovely mum would try to feed me this stuff..

a whole mug of baby rice milk....

well, things still under control at first..

But then I become bored...

... And I ended up pouring the stuff ll over my face... ( Don't I look like Charlie Chaplin?)

Busy Baby

Sea-horse Back ride

Watching TV

Baby sit-ups

YES, I'm A BUSY GIRL...

Didn’t make it into the final

Rania was a bit upset these past few days……

First she went to a swimming contest for babies. YES, it was a real swimming contest, with a jury, rules and scoring applies. She planned to knock down all the boys, but unfortunately our swimmer got a "stage fright" and cried right before, and during the contest.

Then she catches a bit of flu/ cold from her father. Sniff. So she was a bit cranky and had difficulty drinking milk for a couple of days. Luckily she is getting better today.

And then, she didn't make it into the swimming contest final.

But it's OK; I know it's a bit difficult to make it into the final. This time. (hihihihih).

Rania's comment on Zouk Out

Rania : (holding a polaroid picture)"Mommy, is that a picture of you partying at Zouk Out last nite? with those Aunties (and an Uncle) ?

Mommy : "Yes, dear, (gulp)"

Rania : "So you left me at home?"

Mommy: "Umm, yess dear, so sorry.. I..."

Rania : "Why dont you take me with you mommy? You know I love to party!!! Will they play Barney's songs or some Nursery Rhymes?"

Mommy : "?????!!!!"

PS : Rania was really looking at the picture. I guess she wandered what her mother and her friends were wearing that night. Oh, yeah, it was really her hand on the picture, she was REALLY holding and looking at the pic.

What had happened!!

I'm sorry for not posting for like, eeerr, a week! Gosh!! Thank you to everybody who buzz me, asking for new posts, all are appreciated! Anyway, lotsa things have been going on these past few days.

Last Saturday, we went to a churascaria (hope I pronounce it right), Brazilian meat-lovers restaurant. The waiter-cum-chef would go around bringing meat and stuff, and we can decide on the spot if we want to get the food or not. They gave us these stickers, green for :yes, please and red for :no, thank you.

We can put the sticker on the table…

OR

Put on the forehead. (Umm, the model in this picture is undeniably conscious of her silly pose :p )

After that, we went to a lousy lounge in Clark quay and then to…. Zirca, the new club at the recently-closed MOS's venue.

The concept was rather absurd, sort of fanfare, circus-que ( I have no idea what this word means) club (that's where it get its name Zirca), so we'd see these girls wearing party masks and feather scarf, dance like crazy in several stages. My recommendation? MOS still rules!

Then Rania had her second jab last Monday. Hiks. Poor Rania, her jabs were so painful, she didn't stop crying (or more likely screaming) for 5 minutes!!!. POOR RANIA. Lucky for us, Rania did not have any signs of fever. PFffff.

Afterward, last Friday Rania and I went to a New Mother's Group Xmas Party, where Rania got her first Xmas present and her first photo with Santa.

Sorry, no revealing of Mama Rania's face :D

A day in the Life of Rania

Started with reading some newspapers

Then Photoshoot for some Movies..

More Photo taking...

Followed by a speech that was broadcasted in NY City Square

Some pose for a magazine (Yupp, I Rap too ya know, whaddup yo!)

Some pose for a Painter Artist... Dont I look Older than I should?

Role Model, this time for a PSA on safe swimming

Followed by a Meeting with World Leaders... very tiring...

I was already on my way to sleep when I remembered I still have one more photoshot to do, this time for a Department Store.....

My day was so tiring, by the time i reached the end of my agenda ( interview with VOGUE mags) I was asleep already...

See, I'm a busy kid right? ( and I'm only 3 months old!)

PS: no babies were harmed or excessively tired for the making of this post.

The World's Greatest Swimmer

Michael Phelps and Lisbeth Tricket beware! The world's greatest swimmer has arrived! No, she's not Tao Li nor Natalie Coughlin... Her name is rania and she's only 3.5 months old! Bwahahahaha...

This great swimmer can swim continuously for 20 minutes and have to be dragged out from the water. However, she's only able to swim in a 100cmx100cm pool instead of an olympic size one, for now. Here are some pictures from her swimming session :

1st Session

Testing the water. Oops..... only shots from behind are publicized.

2nd Session: Learning from the 1st session where she became an "instant attraction", the swimmer decided to wear her new tweety swimsuit this time.

More to come from our lovely swimmer. See you next time!