we had an appointment with the ENT specialist Prof A...she's such a lovely lady to work with and shared her experiences with us in taking care a child with special needs.. baby iyad did his 2nd hearing test, this time with an experienced audio technologist and audiologist...as usual, baby iyad was put to sleep with syrup chloral hydrate...he fell asleep soon after...
the test (BSER) took about 40 min to complete...alhamdulillah, this time round it was completed without iyad waking up in between...we were told by the technologist that his left ear did not respond to the test as expected..however, further explanation will be given by the audiologist soon after...
the audiologist informed us that baby iyad would probably have left ear profound hearing loss as it did not respond to the noise given at 90dB...his right ear had moderate hearing loss..however, that could be due to his small ear canals that caused the noise given could not penetrate through and give the signal to his brain...a repeat test need to be done in another 4 month to confirm the findings...if the result is still the same, baby iyad might need a hearing aid for his disability..
nevertheless, our little angle responded to our calls and some loud noises..we hope that baby iyad's hearing would improve with age as his ear canals mature and enlarged...he is adorable and lovely to play and chat with..yes, baby iyad loves it very much when we talk to him and sometimes echoed the coo-ing sounds that we made...
as the school holiday is about to end, we decided to have a weekend getaway at a marriott putrajay..the kids love the idea staying at the hotel, simply because of a different environment from home and they love splashing and waddling in the swimming pool..
it was iyad's first experience staying at the hotel...he had no problem with it in fact seemed to enjoy himself there...
besides the swimming pool, the kids also had fun at the kids club room...even iyad had some rolling over and bouncing on the bouncy pony....imtiaz and jihan made some new friends there too... imtiaz was super duper excited when he got to drive the wagon car there...we had a walk around the hotel in the evening and took some photos too...
we had room service for dinner..the kids had pasta and fish and chips...iyad was so comfortable lying on the fluffy pillow...
the next day, we had some buns for breakfast and the kids went off swimming with papa...iyad was fast asleep still so i decided to stay in the room...i ordered some breakfast for them as i was absolutely sure that they would be extremely hungry after splashing and swimming in the pool...
true enough, they were like monsters hunting for food...imtiaz had a bowl of kokocrunch all by himself and jihan had some scrambled eggs and toasts and even took several bites of papa's blueberry pancake...
we waited for makngah and wan to come as they would join us for sunday brunch at the hotel...we had some good food but to me there was nothing extravaganza about the menu...jihan had the chance to meet the clown in person and got him make creature from the balloons...we checked out from the hotel after that and went home feeling full and tired...
the most awaited event...BBW Books Sale 2012...we've been attending this event for the past 2 years.., and we are not going to miss it this year...i got a pass to attend the preview session before it was opened to public..but didn't get to go as i was quite handicapped on that day...i only managed to go there on the 5th day of the event...went there with jihan..brought along a travelling bag and a big shopping bag to stuff in our books...
we arrived there half an hour before the door opened...there was a queue outside but not that long...this time, we only grabbed books for the kids and some cooking/baking books for ezani...there were so many books and i was at lost trying to look for some books that might interest me...we were there for about an hour and bought quite a number of books for the kids and ezani..
my second trip there was with dear hubby...hubby got his and i managed to grabbed some books for my friends..still couldn't find some good books for me...
the 3rd time, i went there alone..taking my own sweet time browsing the fitcions area..got some good books...and gosh my carrying bags were heavy...
the event this year was bigger with more books..the prices were super duper cheap...will not going to miss it next year hopefully and looking forward for some quiet time for me to read the books...
i've started working after my maternity leave on 2nd week of december...leaving baby iyad was such a heartache but i need to work and continue my study...it's just one semester away then insya allah i will finish my master..before that, there are tonnes of work to be done and i just hope i will be able to cope with all the task at work and at home, at the same time spending my precious time to stimulate baby iyad's development...
first day at work went well...baby iyad had difficulty to drink my milk from the bottle, but eventually managed to finish his 3rd bottle that day..the first 2, he just took about 1 oz each time...on the subsequent day, he eventually able to drink from the bottles without any much problems...at work, i managed to express my milk 2-3 times...the amount was sufficient for baby iyad's consumption...i even express my milk at home usually early morning before going to work...
since it was still school holiday for jihan, so she helped out taking care of baby iyad and imtiaz..jihan also has started her piano class during the school holiday...
i still need to squeeze in iyad's class at kiwanis into my work schedule...i've informed my superior regarding the situation i'm in right now and alhamdulillah, she understood and gave me the permission to attend iyad's weekly session at kiwanis...
iyad doing his exercise
iyad has shown a great progress in his development...his trunk, head and neck, legs and arms are getting stronger each day...his social development was superb as well..he loves cooing and interact with people around him...he behaves very well under the care of wan and atok when i go to work...such an adorable baby and who doesn't miss this angel even for just a little while..?
we were invited by dear cousin (or makngah ana to the kids) to have some fun at kidzania...it was the first time for all of us there..she got 5 free tickets that she won in a lucky draw, so that saved us on the entrance fees..entrance fees for baby 0-1 is free (yeay for iyad!), children 2-3 is RM 35, 4-17 is RM 55, adult is RM 35...
as i went there without dear hubby as he was working, so i could only bring jihan and baby iyad...we had to leave imtiaz behind, sorry darling, we'll come again here with you and papa next time..
we arrived there at around 11 am.. the queue was quite short to redeem our entrance tickets...we got our wrist bands (including baby iyad too which i wore it for him, so double wrist bands for me), boarding passes and the kids got their 50 kidzos cheque...then went up to the boarding area, scanned our tickets and wrist bands, entered the area and the kids had to go to the bank to cash in the cheque into kidzos notes...
it was school holiday and on a friday, so there were many people inside...kind of noisy too...so we walked around, trying to find the shortest queue for the kids to start doing their jobs and earn some kidzos...their first stop was the NST office (haiyaa, must be the influenced of mak ngah ana's job)..they became the newspaper vendors making deliveries and earned 10 kidzos each...it was fun for them as they have to read the map and deliver the newspapers at designated places...
then they went to the cadbury's factory to make chocolates...yummy...while waiting for them, i breastfed baby iyad at the toddlers area and changed his nappy at the baby changing room..it was well-maintained and cozy...after doing the 2 jobs, we were all hungry...so we had meehoon goreng and fried fishballs at the cafe in the kidzania town...
after stuffing ourselves, it's time for the next job..they decided to do more deliveries, this time at the poslaju centre...these kids loved running around making deliveries...they earned 8 kidzos each for the job..
and finally, we went to the TV studios as jihan wanted to become the newscaster...ikmal and sofea became the crew members in a news production...jihan got to become the weather girl..she was quite good but was quite shy...
at the end of the whole thing, we viewed the kids' photos at the photo station and bought them as momentos...we also bought some souvenirs at the souvenir shop...the kidzos they earned can be exchanged with goods at the supermarket but they need to have a minimum of 100 kidzos to spend...they can also deposit the kidzos at their cimb accounts but at that time the bank at kidzania town had already closed...so, we are keeping the kidzos till the next time we are here to do more jobs and spend the kidzos..
we crossed over to the curve and had our tea at marche...baby iyad behaved very well throughout the trip..he was awake and got to see kakak read the weather forecast...he was was happily snugged in the wrap and we had wonderful babywearing time together...
overall, it was a great place for kids and their families..even us adults had fun watching our children in action doing their jobs...entrance fee was reasonable but i think the management needs to limit the number of people entering the town at a certain time...when there are too many, the queue for high demand activities are long, so they have to wait for their turns as long as 30-40 minutes when they can actually do some other jobs in between..and it's too crowded like a pasar malam...
after being celebrated at his potong jambul ceremony, baby iyad continued his weekly routine at kiwanis' infant stimulation class...this week, he did some bouncing exercise on the bouncing pony and also some sensory stimulation inside the balls pit...he also had to do the rolling exercise (the thing that he hated most) and had managed to cooperate for about 40 minutes...he had a midway break and had his feeding and continued to do the exercises soon after...
iyad is a very strong boy..his head and trunk are getting stronger now..his extremities too are strong too, kicking and reaching out for toys...he loves licking and sucking his hands too as he feels his hands are part of him...
we are very happy with his progress, alhamdulillah...keep up the good work iyad...we will always be with you no matter what...
we finally made a potong jambul ceremony for iyad last weekend...potong jambul is the baby's very first haircut which usually coincides with the end of 44 days of confinement period..it can be held together with the aqiqah (usually is held on 7th day after the birth of the baby), which is a sunnah practiced by the prophet which involves sacrificing a goat/lamb (2 for a boy) on behalf of the child, which is usually distributed among the poor...it is giving thanks to Allah for the gift of a child..we have made the aqiqah during aidiladha so now it's just the potong jambul...
we invited the muslimah group for the marhaban, which is an islamic carolling and recitation of do'as (prayers of blessings) for the occupants of the house...then we brought iyad around the group as an introduction of a new baby to the crowd, where they took turns to cut a little bit of iyad's hair...iyad was all awake and gave his full cooperation throughout the ceremony...the crowd also gave some money to iyad as a gift during the ceremony...
after the ritual ended, it was time to enjoy the food...we catered the main dish from our neighbours and made some desserts for the guests...it was also time to meet with other families and friends...jihan and imtiaz also had fun playing around with other children who came with their families...they were really exhausted in the afternoon and had a long afternoon nap...
we enjoyed the food very much...had white rice with lauk kampung, penang laksa, bubur kacang, and all the kuihs to name a few...
we also took the opportunity to sell some of the toys and baby's shoes for the Gaza fund..alhamdulillah, the sale was good and we thank all of you who contributed to the fund...
alhamdulillah it all went well...we were all exhausted by the end of the day...that night was the masterchef malaysia season 2 grand final...my sister had to rush to the event that night and only came back at 3 am...
thank you for those who made it to iyad's ceremony...may Allah gives His blessings for your kindness...
baby iyad signed up for the holiday program in kiwanis...this is an introduction to him on what he'll be doing every week starting january next year...the holiday program is a one to one therapy session whereas the real class will be group session with 3-4 other babies of similar developmental milestone...
baby iyad gave his full cooperation in the class and had fun in the beginning..after 20-25 minutes he became restless and tired and refused doing the exercise and made so much noise...yes, my little boy can complaint...smart baby!...
we did some exercise on the floor, on the balancing ball and some stretching exercise...he didn't like to lie in prone position for long and lift up his head...that made him tired and he was not interested to do the following exercises...
we stopped after half an hour and let him nurse for a while as a reward....overall, it was a good job iyad...we'll keep on doing it at home to strengthen your muscles especially your head and neck muscles and trunk muscles...
as planned before, we headed south from batu pahat to nusajaya johor to legoland...the weather was quite gloomy in the morning and it was sunny and hot when we arrived at legoland at around 11 o'clock..we bought the annual pass (hoping and planning to go many times in the next one year) and the queue was quite long..with imtiaz not feeling that well and the hot weather and we got uncomfortable, there was no other way to expedite out entry, so we waited...somehow we got lucky, a friendly staff assisted us to expedite our entry..supposedly when we buy the tickets online, there's no need to queue at the ticketing line anymore...that's the purpose buying tickets online though...anyhow, we made our annual pass and rented a stroller for imtiaz and off we went exploring the theme park...
we made our stop at the driving school...the queue was quite ok and imtiaz had his chance to drive the car..he was quite slow, finding his tempo to coordinate between his legs and hands movement to control the car...jihan also managed to drive her own car and got her driving license..mama and baby iyad waited for them to finish their rides and baby dyad poo-ed during the wait..so tried to find the nearest baby-changing facility (which was actually quite far from the place we were) and found a surau and i changed him outside on the bench and breastfeed him there..by that time, it was already zohor prayer, so she had our prayer and had our lunch at the cafe nearby..
we had lasagne, sandwich, bread butter pudding a donut and 4 drinks, and it costed us RM 75...quite expensive but the food tasted good... while having our lunch, suddenly it rained very heavily outside...we got stuck inside the cafe but had to made a move since we finished our meals and other people were waiting for us to move...so with one umbrella, we strolled across to the souvenir shop...we got quite wet and waited inside the shop while waiting for the rain to stop..in the meanwhile, we did some lego shopping...
after the rain stopped, we returned the stroller, got imtiaz wrapped with papa and we made our way out at around 3 pm...we didn't stay longer to go round the park as we were heading back home straight after that...
overall, it was a nice place for the whole family but since the weather was unpredictable and imtiaz was not feeling that well, the fun-meter didn't hit a perfect 10 that day....we hope to return to legoland soon (since we have the annual pass, 3 or more visits will make it worth it) and have more fun!
it was baby iyad's first time traveling across the states, from selangor, passing through negeri sembilan, melaka to batu pahat johor...his longest journey so far...we had a wedding to attend in kluang, spent 2 nights in kampung then off to legoland in nusajaya after that...
baby iyad behaved well throughout the journey...he was comfortably snugged in the wrap, sleeping, woke up for his feeding then sleep again then woke up again for a chat...
Baby iyad had successfully turned from supine to prone all by himself...his hand got stuck though under his torso and needed help to free it..good job baby! and we'll take you to legoland for that achievement..
kakak jihan and abang imtiaz also had fun playing with their 12 year old uncle, who scored 5 A in his UPSR recently...abang imtiaz had his haircut with atok sutres...he was quite ok at first apart from some bargaining not to cut his hair and later gave a big cry when the razor was near his neck and ears because he felt ticklish...he was quite uncomfortable with the hair on his neck...
we went to kluang for the wedding and my little boy was in good behavior all the way...wan and atok came back from guangzhao and attended the wedding as well...we had scrumptious sambal goreng made by nenek wat and nenek nah in kampung and fresh pucuk ubi with sambal tumis...
abang imtiaz had slight fever and flu but he was looking forward to go to legoland...hope to have some fun in legoland...
now baby iyad has achieved another developmental milestone...he can now turn to side, just about to turn to prone position...we are very happy with his development and he loves doing that...we encouraged him to do lots of exercise as recommended by the physiotherapist and hopefully his muscle tone will strengthen and he will develop as other babies at his age...
wan and atok departed to guangzhao this morning for a 5 days trip...we are pretty sure that they will be amazed with iyad's development when they come home...
kakak jihan had been spending her school holidays by attending a science camp, the little ibnu sina camp...she really enjoyed attending the camp and excitedly told us the experiments she did at the camp everyday...
we have also applied for iyad's OKU (orang kelainan upaya) card and with that card, iyad will get lots of privileged that are given for a special child like him...
iyad together with kakak and abang followed mama to meet up with her friends to do some charity sale for Gaza fund and alhamdulillah, the sale was good and we managed to make some contribution to the Gaza fund through the islamic relief malaysia... we have some toys left available for sale and if you are interested to contribute to the fund, do contact us by leaving a comment in this post...
who doesn't love weekends..? baby iyad loves it very much as everybody is around and he gets as much attention from the others too (apart from mama)..
baby iyad had recovered from his acute bronchiolitis, alhamdulillah and he is looking forward for a fun-filled weekends with his loved ones..
so, this weekend, we were quite busy as well...makngah was very busy baking for her cakes and other delicacies that are going to be sold at Rasta Flea Market...we went to visit makngah at the flea market and even though it was hot, iyad was comfortably sleeping in his wrap...then we went off to the curve where kakak and abang went to play at the yukids island...and had lunch at TGIF...
we are all looking forward to the next weekend as we are going down south for a wedding and a trip to legoland...hopefully all will go as planned...
baby iyad's cough wasn't getting any better, well, it didn't worsen that much but he developed some wheezing sound since 2 days ago..otherwise, he had only low grade fever, still active, able to nurse very well and sleep comfortably at night and during his nap...when he had his bout of cough, it was a heartache to hear that...we pitied him when he coughed like that...as if his throat was very itchy and there were lots of phlegm stucked there and he cannot expelled them out...
he didn't seem to be breathless or tachypneic, but occasionally he had some subcostal recession on his chest but it disappeared after he stopped his bout of cough...we gave him to inhale the metered dose inhaler (MDI) ventolin via aerochamber and he hates that...
we nursed him at home as we feel very much comfortable and confident about it...hopefully he will recover soon and need no admission to the A&E, as that means another trauma for my little baby iyad if blood taking is needed...
last monday was baby iyad's first assessment at kiwanis...the physiotherapists assessed baby iyad's capabilities and developmental milestones so that we can focus at which area of development that he is lacking...baby iyad gave his full cooperation (despite having cough and flu) and enjoyed the session very much...
based on the assessment done, baby iyad's fine motor and social development were very good, which was appropriate for his age...his gross motor was good as well, he was not that hypotonic, except that his head still wobble..so, we are going to help baby iyad strengthen his muscle tones and help him in other aspects as well..
baby iyad is going to start his school holiday program next month for 4 sessions (once a week)..and later will start his proper class in january insya allah...
it was tiring for him i guess, as he cried out loudly at the end of the session telling us that he's already tired and had enough and now it's time for milk :)
we also tried to do some exercise at home, he really enjoyed it and after half an hour he will scream telling us that he's already tired...
a few videos on what we've been doing at kiwanis during the assessment...
this morning, baby iyad followed mama and papa to kakak jihan's prize giving ceremony at her school...kakak jihan got 2 awards this year, one for the academic excellence award and another one for the excellent behaviour award...
we arrived at 8 am...mama and baby iyad seated near the door so that we can go out easily if baby iyad make some noise....as usual, baby iyad slept comfortably in the wrap...the aunt beside us told mama that baby iyad was a very good baby....he slept throughout the 3 hours event despite being in a quite humid hall...
baby iyad had a slight cough and runny nose, he probably got that from his kakak and abang...otherwise, he is still active and sucking well...
we had to leave abang imtiaz at home with atok...and abang imtiaz also behaved very well under atok's care...we brought home delicious nasi baryani for lunch..wan and makngah opened a booth at rasta flea market ttdi and they made good sales of makngah's delicacies...there will be another sale next weekend on 18th november, same place, same time...hopefully baby iyad will be able to join the fun too...
yesterday, baby iyad followed mama to a breastfeeding discussion held at mothers en vouge in pavilion kl in conjunction with the launching of their store in malaysia... we went there with aunt kamariah and aunt ajui and her chubby baby audi...
baby iyad participated in the discussions as well and showed some mamas there on how to wear a babe sachi ring sling...most of the time, baby iyad slept comfortably in his wrap and woke up only for his milk..when mama went to pray, aunt kamariah took over mama's place by wearing baby iyad until the program ended at around 4 pm...
we went down to the food court for some food, mama and the aunts were having yong tau foo...(yummy!)..and baby iyad had to wait for his turn for his milk...when mama was breastfeeding baby iyad, an indonesian cleaner came to clean our table, and she said to us, "mamanya makan, anaknya sedut"..meaning that, the mother eats the food and the baby just suck the food of mama's breast...we kind of like that spontaneous expression from that cleaner..it's exactly true, babies who are breastfed get to eat and taste what the mothers are eating...trust me, if you eat durian, your breast milk will taste and smell of durian...that's why a breastfed baby rarely becomes a picky eater when he starts on solid food because he already tasted the food in his mother's milk...
it was a lovely outing and we had a smooth journey to and fro on a rainy friday afternoon... alhamdulillah, the traffic was good....papa picked us up at bangi and we went home safely...
last weekend, hubby and i (and little baby iyad of course) had the opportunity to attend a workshop on special needs children and Down Syndrome in PJ...we were glad that we attended this workshop as we got to meet and learn from the experts and exchanged stories and experiences with other parents as well...
the 1st workshop on the morning was on Managing the Emotional Impact of Special Needs on the Family by Dr Shan Narayanan...this is an important topic that we felt had really enlightened us in handling our emotions when dealing and living with baby iyad...we had a good discussion about it with the others, and we were glad that we had the opportunity to freely express our feelings and thoughts with other participants...
the 2nd workshop in the afternoon mainly focused on Down Syndrome in term of developing their skills in eating, talking and playing by a speech, language pathologist, farah alkaf... the session was very lively and fun..we watched a few video clips on this and were very amazed on how the DS children can actually developed their potential well...there were many special needs teachers, physiotherapists and occupational therapists attended the session and we got to find out about all the resources available for DS children...
baby iyad behaved very well during the workshop...he mainly slept comfortably in the wrap, occasionally woke up to chit chat with us, had his milk, then sleep again and poo...
alhamdulillah, we gained a lot of new knowledge and experience by attending this workshop..we met new friends and they were very supportive and friendly too...insya allah, we will try to apply this new knowledge in our journey with baby iyad and also help other families out there with special needs...we are not alone in this...there are many wonderful people out there who are in the same boat as us...and there are many awesome people out there who will give their support and love to us throughout this journey, insya allah...
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