Back to school

31st August 2010

First of all, congratulations to our Malaysian family and friends on the anniversary of Malaysia's independence day.

As for us, today is pretty exciting as well. After an almost 2 months holiday, we finally start attending school. What's even more interesting is that we have advanced another year, I am proud to say that I am now in Year 2 while my sister is now in Kindy.

Before leaving home, mummy took a few shots of us in our uniform. A big change this time; Safiya decides to wear a headscarf to school, and she looks beautiful.

We left home at around 7 and arrived at school just before 7.30. The first thing we did was to locate my new class which is in another building. From now, I will have to climb a few steps since my classroom is on level 1 compared to last time where my class in on the ground level.

The environment is a bit different not only because of the new room, but because of the new group of students. A few of my classmates from Year 1 are with me while some others are in other classes. Being in Year 2 makes me feel that I have grown a liitle bit ~ when my parents left me, a handshake (salam) seemed to be enough for me. No hugs and kisses anymore, at least not in front of my friends! Hehehe...

After sending me, our parents then made their way to Safiya's classroom. According to mummy, Safiya was a bit hesitant to go into her new class and kept on wanting to go to her previous classroom which is familiar to her. However, after a while she understood that the previous class is for really young kids (mummy explained that it's for kids with nappies) and that some of her old friends are in her new class as well. Unfortunately though, her close friend Amelie is in another class but Safiya didn't seem to mind.

Let's hope that it is going to be another great year for us!

Chinese style Iftar

30th August 2010

It has been a while since our daddy got his hands wet in the kitchen. However, since daddy had an off-day from work today, he decided to prepare some Chinese style dishes for Iftar (breaking the fast). Safiya and I helped ~ we made Yong Tau Foo and wanton.

Hehehe... We were so eager to eat that we forgot to take pictures of the end product when the foods are cooked! Thanks daddy for a delicious dinner!

Biscuits for Hari Raya

28th August 2010

This year, mummy made a resolution to bake her own biscuits and cakes for the upcoming Eid or Raya celebration. To fulfill that ambition, today mummy made two types of biscuits; semolina biscuits and cornflakes peanut butter biscuits. Safiya helped mummy a little bit, while I was entertaining my cousin, Adam who slept over last night.

The biscuits are yummy. Looking forward to more soon!

Painting

23rd August 2010

In the afternoon today, Safiya and I helped our parents with some painting works in our small garden. Read more from the other blog >>>

Tips for fasting among pregnant and nursing mothers

12th Ramadan 1431H

BLOG POST BY MUMMY:

It has almost been 2 weeks since Muslims perform fasting in this holy month of Ramadan. Thankfully, everything seems to be going smoothly and well. However, from experience, I have always been a bit concerned about fasting while breastfeeding at the same time. I also had the experience (with all three children) of being pregnant while fasting but Alhamdulillah, with determination and endless support from hubby and others, I managed.

While reading a newspaper today, I came across some great tips by a OBGYN expert for pregnant and nursing mothers during the fasting month. By sharing these tips, I hope that mothers like me can go on performing their fast, InsyaAllah. Here are the tips:

• Delay sahur
• Increase intake of protein, fruits and vegetables
• Take fresh fruit juices when breaking the fast
• Limit intake of tea, coffee and soft drinks
• Limit intake of fried and salty foods, instead choose baked, grilled and steamed foods
• Increase intake of water in between dusk and dawn

The following are some of the recommended foods to take:

• Iron: liver, beef, cereals, prune and nuts
• Folic acid: Green vegetables, eggs and wheat products
• Calcium: Milk, yoghurt, cheese, taufu, broccoli, nuts, soy and juices

In short;

• Avoid Excessive foods with fats, sugar, salt and caffein
• Go for fresh foods
• Practice a low-fat diet and reduce intake of fried foods
• To increase milk supply, maintain a healthy diet with lots of protein and water intake
  

However, always remember that every individual is different, so always listen to your own body and follow your doctor's advise. Health of you and your baby is the top priority, always! It should be noted that the following conditions calls for a pregnant mother to discontinue fasting:

• Hypoglycemia (low glucose level in blood)
  
• Less-active fetus

In addition to the above, I also came across some tips by my dietitian friend in our local newspaper regarding healthy foods for kids. According to her:

• Always start the day with a good breakfast which include foods rich in complex carbohydrates such as oats, wholemeal bread, high-fibre crackers or biscuits and protein-rich food such as cheese, baked beans, tuna, sardines and eggs.
• Breakfast eaters have higher levels of attention in classes and fewer hunger-induced stomach aches in the morning.
• DHA is important for the brain and retina of the eye, and this can be found in green leafy vegetables, soybeans, walnuts, flaxseed, canola oil, eggs, salmon, tuna, sardines, mackerel and local oily fish such as tamban, seabass, bakulan and terubok.
  

Hope the above information helps. Salam Ramadan!

Happy and healthy

21st August 2010


It's the tenth day of Ramadan and since the fasting month started, our activities has been reduced to the minimum, especially those involving the outdoors. As such, posting in this blog would be scarce as well but we'll definitely fill in any interesting happenings that's worth sharing.

One thing that is always interesting to us is the fast progress in the growth of our baby brother, Safwan. Mummy says that amongst us three, Safwan is the most active. Even when merely lying down, he doesn't stay still but instead he wriggles his hands and feet non-stop ~ in most instances so hard that he taps his own thighs and head with his hands.

He also shows better communication skills. He now cries with purpose - when he cannot reach something and when he is sleepy or hungry. Now we do not have to play with him to see him smile, he'll usually smile as soon as he sees a familiar face. One habit stays the same, he loves to learn and explore using his mouth, and things end up wet and soggy! Hehehe...

If you look at the pictures below, he doesn't look like only he's 5 months old!

Meeting daddy's best friend for the first time

15th August 2010

Alright, Safwan turns 5 months old today but only last night he got the chance to meet daddy's best friend and his lovely wife. Hehehe... you might think that being a best friend, we should have met him sooner, right? That's life ~ everyone is on a tight schedule and we couldn't find the time for even a brief 'hi' or 'hello'. Moreover, uncle and auntie has just been back in Brunei for 7 months after being posted for about 4 years to the UK.

Thankfully, Ramadan is our chance to catch up on things, since both our parents and the lovely couple attend Tarawih prayers together every single night until the end, Insya Allah. Last night, uncle and auntie decided to drop by our home after the prayers and they stayed until midnight (lots of catching up to do!).

Uncle was happy to see our baby brother and couldn't stop kissing and cuddling him. Uncle said that Safwan was fun to hug because of his chubbiness and a it's bonus for them that Safwan loves to smile. Our baby brother didn't create a scene eventhough mummy deliberately woke him up from his sleep so that he can meet with his uncle.

Uncle and auntie also gave lots of souvenirs for our parents all the way from the UK ~ scarves and men's wallet from Tie Rack, Marks & Spencer toiletries and a beautiful bangle from Bijoux. Thank you very much!


As a side note, we are happy to say that baby Safwan has reached another milestone. On the first day of Ramadan, he can already turn his body and can now comfortably lay tummy down.

Happy Ramadan!

Ramadan is here again

1 Ramadan 1431 AH

Wishing all Muslims a blessed month full of Ibadah
Let's take this opportunity to be better in everything that we do especially our prayers (solat), speech and behaviour

From all of us at
syafisafiya.blogspot.com
syafisafiya-house.blogspot.com

August birthdays

8th August 2010

We probably have mentioned before that August is another month full of birthdays amongst our family members. Since all birthdays fall in the fasting month, we decided to host a party as an advanced celebration for all four birthday 'girls', namely cousin Nazrah (picture above), her mummy (Ngangah), Bungsu Diana (another aunt) and cousin Sasya.

Of course, what better place to celebrate other than our home? Although none of us is in the list, but we love to have people come over. As such, in the afternoon today, our home was filled with laughter and happiness, especially since we had 4 birthdays in one!

This time, the chef was Ngangah with a bit of help from the others. Mummy took the opportunity to take photos of the cute birthday girl, Nazrah with all her girl cousins. She really looked cute with her gown and tiara ~ not to mention the eyeshadow! Hehehe!

The birthday cakes...

To top it all off, Ngangah also hired two bouncers for us to enjoy. For the timid ones, a small bouncer is available, and for some thrill a large slide bouncer with pool was there too. We took the opportunity to have fun even after all invitees have gone home. So worth the pay!

Safwan's recent development

5th August 2010

Until recently, our baby brother loves to look at his tiny hands and move them about while at it. Now, he develops another skill; playing with his feet. As his pediatrician explained a few weeks ago, this is expected. Soon, he will probably put his toes in his mouth! Hehehe...