Still Here! Ayisha - 13 Months

I am going to sum up the happenings of the last 3 months as best as i could. I've been soo bad i know. Since Ayisha is still NOT walking yet, i think my lack of updates is quite ok lah...hehe

In May, with Ayisha turning 11 month old, we;

- had my birthday, OLD news but me stil young :p
- went to Phuket for Michael's work and it was decided that we're moving to Bali by the end of the year!
- went back to Oz to welcome Jack Thomas, Ayisha's cousin.
- received the news that a dear friend in KL passed away when we're still in Oz :( (al-fatihah)

Ayisha started to;

- have showers instead of baths..LOVES it!
- upper teeth coming out
- open & close lids and claps for herself when successful
- blow her nose (she was a bit flu-ey and i was trying so hard to show her how good it would feel if she could do it! *demo*)
- Sip on straws...and goes on and on and on...
- Drop her clothes in the washing machine before taking shower
- pretend drink from a sippy cup and say 'ah'
- eat DURIAN! and loving it! (woooohoooooo!)
-climb off the bed by herself!!

I, myself, this month, gave my 1-month resignation notice to my job in Oz.

In June, with Ayisha turning ONE (yep big gal!) we;

- spent a hectic yet such quality, enjoyable, memorable times with the Laidlers & close friends in Oz and enjoying as much as 'Jack Thomas' time as we could as well as having my lil sister Wa with during our last week in Sydney..:))))))
- came back just in time for a good friend's wedding :)
- Michael went to Bali for 2 weeks for the new job, me & Squeaky in KL :(

Ayisha started to;

- give cuddles and pat teddy bears with her cute lil hands!
- more upper teeth coming out (total 4 upper now!)
- spoon from the bowl & eat herself, altho most of the food goes on the floor! ;)
- hold pen/crayon & 'writes' on paper
- be a personal shredder - rip paper off and chew chew chew
- in the shower, 'help' me soap herself (pressing her baby bath bottle dispenser and rubbing her body like i do for her)
- brush her teeth
- give wonderful hugs and kisses!!
- salam & salam everyone & everywhere! (malay handshakes where she holds out her hand to kiss other's hand)
- crawl up and down the stairs with no help

I, myself, this month, am officially UNEMPLOYED, with my 1 year maternity leave finally ended.

In July, with Ayisha already one & getting to 13 month old, we;

- celebrated her birthday (waited for Michael to come back from Bali) with family & friends in KL with an OZ themed Green & Gold par-taaaaay!
- went to Kota Kinabalu with most of the Hasmonis and my aunt and her family
- left our place in PJ, packed up and started our road trip Cuti Cuti Malaysia!

Ayisha started to;

- pretend play with her bowls & cups (pretend to eat and drink and says 'yumm')
- turn away from us if she doesn't wanna do what we want her to do (attitude!! i know!)
- lean her head back when i wash her shampoo off ;)

I, myself, this month went to see ECLIPSE and am OBSESSED with the Saga, with Edward, with the Cullens all over again. Just finished Breaking Dawn..AGAIN! ;)

I know, I know! Lots to explain and lots to elaborate on which i'd love to do but if that happens then this particular entry would probably take another 3 months to be published :p

Right now, am actually staying at Batu Burok Beach, Kuala Terengganu. We've been on the road for about a week now after making another rather hasty decision to leave our rented PJ apartment (out landlord's super cool) and start our lil road trip around Malaysia. This is all after realizing that we don't really have much time left before we move to Bali and since Michael is still able to work as long as there's internet connection, we figured that we'd just save $ on rent to live on the road and leave KL to enjoy other parts of Malaysia while we can.

We started off with Cherating, made a few stops along the way before catching up with family for a day trip to Pulau Kapas, stayed longer in Marang cos 'someone' has to work and the Agullia beach house was AWESOME, spent some time in Lake Kenyir and now we're here.

Today was pretty hectic not because of the travels but because both Michael & Ayisha have been sick. It was probably a sign for us to slow down a lil bit cos it has been pretty full on. We spent most day today at the hospital waiting for Michael to be tested for dengue/malaria. Thankfully he's all fine. And Ayisha's coughing has been getting a lil less horrifying. I am physically and emotionally tired but very grateful that both my babies are fine. It made me realize even more how blessed we are to have the opportunity to do what we do and even more grateful for our good health to be able to enjoy and do things together. We sometimes overlook these things.

We're planning to enjoy more of Terengganu and move on to Kelantan, then maybe to Penang, Cameron Highlands and back to JB just in time for Raya/Eid. It has been truly fantastic. Such a big change from KL. I do love KL but just being out of KL feels like we're in a different country for a while. The beaches are beautiful and the people here have been awesome. It's still a simple and laid back lifestyle here and i find the people just so warm and courteous. We still get a lot of stares when we walk around but they're more friendly curious stares instead of irritating ones. And when im out and about without Michael or without Squeaky, people are still nice to me. Not to say that people in KL are not nice. But there's no time to stop and smile and give way on the road and wave. Everything's just so busy busy busy, i think they just forgot to stop and relax a lil bit or maybe they can't afford to. I dunno. Over here, even when i was at the hospital today waiting for Michael, it didn't irritate me at all. Everyone's just so pleasant, patients included. And friendly. And i just love how they talk. :)

Another thing that we love is that on weekends, kids and family have LOTS of options to do stuff. There's beaches and waterfalls, we see a lot family having picnics and just both kids and adults having fun swimming, running around, bikes, kites and lots of big parks and playgrounds everywhere. But they don't have big shopping malls. Unlike KL where all the malls would be hectic with family & kids including IKEA on weekends.

And the food..OMG..i think we overdose on kerepok lekor (fish sausages) Ayisha LOOOOOOVES em!

I miss my friends and family lil bit, but i know we'll be back for Raya and there's still a lil bit of time to spend together before Bali. Michael's been enjoying showing off his Bahasa skills to the locals here. They just talk in malay with him here and he loves it. Ayisha's been wonderful as always. Good in the car, tidur when she has to, charming when she wants to. She's such a big girl now. She's got a lot of personality showing and she's come up with lots of new facial expressions and gestures - wrinkles her nose when she did a smelly poo and shaking her pointy finger when we say 'i do not like them here or there' (from Green Eggs & Ham).

She's babbling a lot but not really talking. No first words yet unless if you count 'mammm mmaaa' when she wants to feed, 'daaa' when she waves goodbye or 'pish, pish' when she holds out her hand wanting something (im guessing she's going for the word 'please'). She makes me laugh constantly. Like the other day, she was playing with my toiletries bag and i wanted to check if she puts any of the lotions in her mouth so i stick my finger in her mouth and quickly pull it out to smell it and did this few times and she stopped me by pushing my hands away and grunting then she puts HER finger in HER mouth and points it quickly to my nose, and did this few times like i did. Like telling me 'u're doing it wrong! let me do it!' hehe.

I can go on and on about her but i'll save some for my next post which I hope won't be in another 3 months time! I can' believe i missed talking in full details about her 1st birthday and all about her party. :(

Anyways, i will definitely try harder and keep this updated and keep you guys posted on where we are and what other wonders we experience here while we Cuti-cuti Malaysia and of course, what our lil Squeaky will be up to! Till then, enjoy the pics.

with all the wonderful pressies!

Ayisha & mummy's Twilight T-shirt..hehe

enjoying the last piece of bday cake

Mt Kinabalu backdrop

with cousin, Hamza..enjoying the beach