A Homemaker’s Diary

I was looking in the picture folders and found a picture of my son wearing his very first kopiah and baju melayu, when he was like 7 month old. The first Hari Raya we celebrated as a family.

I never imagine I will say this, after all the endless sleepless nights, and the hard work of raising a son, well, time does fly and now at almost 3 years old, I can see the more independent person in him.

The first year was really a blur. I was miserable. I have no help during day time when Hubby went to work. I was alone, on my own. I can’t even go to the kitchen to eat or cook without having a crying baby, demanding my attention.

We tried all possible way to make it work – bought the Jumperoo to be put in the living hall so that I can eat my meal for 5 minutes, a baby Bjorn carrier so that I could carry him around while having hands to do work and a high chair in the kitchen which I have to drag nearer to me so that he can see what I was doing at the stove and the sink. And when he finally slept I was held captive by his side because he has such a strong sensor and a very light sleeper too. I prefer to do everything possible when he was awake rather than have a cranky baby who didn’t have enough quality sleep.

Not to forget the fact that he nursed all night long, to the extent that I regretted my decision to exclusively breastfeed him. Of course Hubby couldn’t help much because his son didn’t want his Abah, no matter how eager and desperate Abah was to relieve Mama’s burden.

On the bright side, after the chaotic first year, I was a much better person. I tried my best to make it work – I cooked and completed the house chores like washing, cleaning and gardening faster. I found effective ways to make certain daily routine simpler. Life for me was never the same again.

Now after two years, I can see the good result of the attachment parenting. I have successfully breastfeed my son for 2 years and still doing so (although I really hope he will wean off from the breast completely very soon). He is now a bright, very active and very cheerful child (which at times remind me of the chirping bird on the tree..haha!) Although the first 2 years of raising him was such an endurance challenge to my will power and physical strength, (even now it still does) I wouldn’t want to change a thing.

Looking at him now, I realize that I certainly must have done most of the raising-a-child things right, after all. Hopefully I won’t do much damage in many more years to come..haha!

I finally get to put this feet painting we made a few months ago in the frame bought from IKEA. I should have put some adhesive at the back of the painting because as you can see, it slides down from the paper mat.

The drawing paper was bought at Jusco. It is so big compared to the normal size of drawing pad (I think double the size) making it very convenient for my son to pour his creative juice..haha!

I still remember the first time I introduced my son to feet and finger painting at the age of 7 or 8 month, he cried and squirmed because he disliked the feel of the wet paint. But now whenever he feels like painting, he will surely paint some on his feet and palm.

In many, many years to come, when the little feet are no longer small, and he will be exploring world on his own, I will surely gaze on this feet painting of his and reminisce what a wonderful memory I have raising him up.

I almost didn’t notice that the purple cattleya orchid I have was blooming again. After closer inspection, I found out the first flower was already wilted and this was the last one on the same stalk..huhu!

Sometimes on certain days I can hardly get out from the house and water my plants. I have to really steal the time every now and then from all the house chores to actually get to do some gardening. So whenever I get to see some of the flowering plants bloom, it really cheer up my day.

I hope as my son grows up, I get to have more time to spend in the garden (well, actually we could if we live and sleep like normal people..haha!)

Oh, I have also decided not to buy any new flowering plants from Floria 2011 bazaar as I think I won’t do the plants any justice. You see, plants need care and a lot of nurturing in order to thrive, for now I have to concentrate all my energy on making sure that my dearest son is growing up well.

We managed to go to Floria in Putrajaya on Saturday, 9th July. Since hubby was stuck in jammed due to the roadblock and dear son fell asleep for his afternoon nap, we only managed to go there around 8pm.

I didn’t get to snap any picture of the outdoor garden since it was dark. But we managed to see some fireworks as the minister launched the event. All the pictures above were taken in the indoor exhibition hall or what they call it Floral Pavillion.

For those wishing to buy plants, do check out the Garden Bazaar. I managed to get a pot of pokok kesum and pokok kari to replace the dead one..huhu!

I hope I could make it again this weekend during daytime to take pictures at the Showcase Gardens and Flower Galore.

For those interested, here are the details of Floria 2011.

Putrajaya Flower & Garden Festival 2011

Date: 9th – 17th July 2011
Venue: Waterfront, Precinct 2, Putrajaya
Theme: Roses Are Forever

Opening Hours:
9am – 10pm (Monday-Thursday)
9am – 12midnight (Friday-Sunday)
Admission: FREE

I can’t help to notice that I am not like most people. I usually will go against the tide in almost all normal life situation. When we were newly married, friends and family seem to be wondering when we are going to have baby. I told them that I don’t intend to have one, and most of them were not happy to hear that.

Well, what is wrong with not wanting to have any child? It’s the same like people who want to have 4-5 kids yet they don’t really can afford to have that many. It’s a big life responsibility which need a mature mind and heart to handle. And I can’t help to notice that whenever people heard that it took us 5 years to have a child, they immediately think that we had to go a great trouble to conceive one. Or the remarks that most people said, about us being newly married since our son is only a toddler..haha!

And now whenever I told people who ever ask about us having another child about my intention of not having any other, I just can’t help to notice that most are shocked to hear that I am happy to just have one. Well, what is wrong with having one child? At times I have to sugar coat my words and say well, maybe in years to come I might consider to have another one just to clear up the air.

God!! Sometimes I just hate being me, sometimes I wish I can be like the majority of the people in this world who just go with the tide, follow the norms. The good side of having a child for me at the moment is that I no longer get the funny look when people heard that I have a degree but didn’t work full time like most educated career women these days do..sigh!