Mini Karnival Al Haq in cooperation with Kindness Malaysia

We went to Mini Karnival al Haq on Malaysia Day, 16 September 2019 at Rumah Al Haq, Dato' Keramat Kuala Lumpur. The Mini Karnival Al Haq was held to get funding to cover the costs of their operations and other expenses in order to keep the residents safe and comfortable there.

There were many interesting activities that was organized besides selling of food and things, including Nerf Games, sand art, bayblades, face painting and many more.

The mini carnival was also attended by many other children from other shelter homes around Kuala Lumpur.

Birthday Party with KFC Chicky & Friends at AEON Big Ampang

We actually didn't plan big for Bilal's second birthday party. All we had in mind was to buy a cake and some food and hang out with family at home. But my mom got another idea and she wanted to throw her grandson a birthday party at any fast food restaurant instead. After giving some thoughts and had some discussions, we said okay to Nenek. So we had Bilal's 2nd birthday party at KFC Aeon Big Ampang the day after his actual birthday (because of the availability of the slot). 

We choose KFC as our party place as it is obviously everyone's favorite fast food restaurant. KFC Aeon Big Ampang is the nearest KFC store from our place which have the birthday party service. Plus point that the party area is spacious and is separated from the main KFC dining area.

The Kids First Merdeka Celebration - National Day at Dataran Kulim Kedah

We were all excited to go celebrate the National Day at Esplanade (Padang Kota), Penang on the Saturday, 31st August 2019 morning, as per stated in the government website and few other website.

But once we arrived there, we saw the road was way too clear and quite for a long weekend holiday in Penang, let alone to have a Merdeka celebration. Then we remembered that daddy said the notis penutupan jalan is for Butterworth. So we checked on Facebook and other social media updates - yes - the celebration was done in Butterworth, not Esplanade. 😭

I was so frustrated for the fact I stayed up to sew their t-shirts to go for the national day marching and celebration. So we ended up go to have our breakfast (again) at Roti Canai Jalan Argyll and brought the kids to the playground instead.

I'm a dōTERRA wellness advocate!

A few friends approached me, inviting me to try essential oils (EO) as they thought I'm not using any. Maybe because I've never shared publicly that I actually use EO. I've been using dōTERRA oils for more than 2 years now. Thanks to Eqin for introducing me to dōTERRA.

I'm not against medicine, I still go to clinic when needed. But with EO, it helps reducing minor pain like headache, stomach ache and minor cuts using natural oils. And diffusing makes the room smells good too!

I am not sure why I've never shared about me using essential oils, but since I'm joining the 30-day photo challenge on Instagram, and will be taking A LOT of photo, so yeah, might as well use it for the blog. Hahaha!

Fun and educational games by Happy Go KL

Everyday, we will try to find time to spend with the kids before they go to sleep, not matter how late Daddy comes back from work. Sometimes we play train and tracks, sometime we play with blocks.

And of course, one of Balqis' favorite is playing this Lizards and Ladders board game by Happy Go KL - All About Kuala Lumpur for Families. I like that the game comes with beautiful theme of Malaysian rainforest.

Really tall and long shelf at BookXcess in Gurney Paragon, Penang

So, have you heard about the newly opened book store with a really tall and long shelf?

It's the well know parent of the great Big Bad Wolf book sales, the BookXcess Bookstore now opened in Gurney Paragon mall, Penang!

Located at Level 7 and 8 of Gurney Paragon Mall, this is their 8th outlet and the first store out of the central region! The book store covers over 26 000 sq ft with countless numbers of shelves.

It is also an insta-worthy bookstore, trust me. Too bad I was too occupied with the kids that I did not get the chance to get myself captured for insta purpose lol.

Natural baby products by Chomel Baby

After I read about the negative sides of parabens, I have been switching more to natural products than I was before, especially when it comes to my babies' product. Unfortunately parabens are everywhere, in most commercial products. They can be found in all soaps, body washes, shampoos, and moisturizers.

I first heard of Chomel Baby products when Babydash.com agreed to sponsor for our International Babywearing Event last October and one of the items they gave was Chomel Baby Breast Pump and Bottle Cleanser.

And now I got the chance to try their baby Head to Toe Wash, Daily Lotion and Baby Wipes.

DIY Kids Art & Craft at Craftomon's, MyTown Kuala Lumpur

Craftomon's by Open Playschool is a children activity store in MyTown shopping mall, Kuala Lumpur. The Craftomon's store is located at Level 1, in front of the escalator near link bridge to IKEA.

We stumbled upon this store while we were there and Balqis requested to do some painting. There are a lot of art and craft activities to do there.  Some of the DIY arts and craft things that you may purchase to bring home, or do it there at the store are key-chain, fridge magnet, coin banks, photo frames and many more.

Of course we like this store. Even though both of us are from science background, we always encourage Balqis to do arts & crafts. And she herself likes to do all those painting, cutting, doodling.

Tips for Eating Out with Kids

Eating out is usually a great treat for the whole family. Mummy gets to rest from cooking while the whole family get to enjoy good food.

But since we have kids, we always have to think on how to get them occupy at the dining table. Of course we do not want them, especially Balqis, to run around the restaurant. And Bilal would be easily bored sitting at the table for too long since he's in the exploring phase. 

And we have no (or very little time) smart phone policy for the kids, hence we have to be creative and think of other ways to keep them busy and comfortable at the same time. So we can have our meals happily, too! LOL.

Learn & Fun Trip to Pusat Sains & Kreativiti Terengganu

From my recent post on our Jalan-Jalan Terengganu trip, many had asked me about the Pusat Sains dan Kreativiti Terengganu. It seems that many have never heard of the place, just like me if we were not going to Kuala Terengganu hehe.

Pusat Sains & Kreativiti Terengganu (PSKT) or Terengganu Science & Creativiti Centre is located at Kampung Laut, Chendering, Kuala Terengganu, which is about 15 to 20 minutes drive from Kuala Terengganu city centre. I'm not sure if there are any public transportation to go there as we went there by car.

Visit to Pusat Sains Negara, Bukit Kiara, Kuala Lumpur

Last Sunday, we went to Pusat Sains Negara or the National Science Centre, which is located at Bukit Kiara. The entrance fee for the centre is quite affordable, i.e RM 6 for adults, RM 3 for children (7 - 12 years old and senior citizen) and free for kids below 6 years old.

Going into the indoor galleries, you'll first walk under the Freshwater Fish Aquarium. The aquarium is the main entrance to the indoor galleries.

Benbat YummiGo Feed & Go Booster Seat

Tired of looking for clean baby high chair when going out to the diner? Not enough baby chair, all are occupied? Let your baby seat on your lap during meal time is not the best option isn't it?

Here's come the solution! Check out this Benbat YummiGo Feed & Go Booster Seat!

The YummiGo Booster Seat is lightweight, portable booster seat that can hold up to 20kg.

 It is as compact as a bag when folded, and have extra storage space where you can put all your baby's stuff inside.

Homemade pumpkin puree with Autumnz Baby Food Processor

When Balqis turned 6 months old, I was so excited to make her first puree to feed her with all scheduled and all. I made her food in a very conventional way - steamed on the kitchen, blend with a blender - one by one. I was just a student back then and had all the time needed to prepare her food.

But when Bilal was about 5 months old, I could imagine that I wouldn't have the time to prepare his food like I used to do for his sister. As I am currently working and need to leave house as early as 7 plus, reach home at almost 7 every day, and rush to cook dinner and wash cloth and so on and so forth, I knew I needed some help. Then I found one! It's the Autumnz 2-in-1 Baby Food Processor!

Autumnz Baby Food Processor is so convenient, it helps busy parents like me a quick and efficient way to prepare baby food. It is a steam and blend in one appliance, hence no more washing two or three kitchen stuff to prepare baby food.

I've been using it since Bilal turned 6 months old until now, for about 5 months now and yes - I would totally recommend it!

Since I love it so much, I made this tutorial video to show you how easy it is to use it. Check this out.

(This is not a sponsored post.)

Visit to LittleWhiz Setia Alam for Car Seat Shopping

When looking for a new car seat last weekend, we decided to visit LittleWhiz.com in Setia Alam as they are one of the shops with Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician. And to our luck, Mr Louis Tan of LittleWhiz, their Certified CPS Technician Instructor was there that day.

He shared in detail on child passenger safety to the customers and gave advise on how to choose the right child car seat or booster for our kids, suitability depends on car, correct way to install the seat etc.

Aktiviti Messy Play di Dr Nurhaya Lactation Centre

'Messy Play' atau sensory play adalah penting untuk perkembangan kanak-kanak kecil dengan memberikan mereka pelbagai cara belajar secara tidak langsung yang menyeronokkan.

'Messy Play' dapat membantu kanak-kanak dalam banyak cara, untuk bertenang, meluahkan perasaan mereka, bereksperimen dengan bahan-bahan yang berbeza, belajar tentang tekstur dan mengasahkan koordinasi mata-tangan atau melatih kemahiran menuang, mengukur dan mencampur.

Ia juga merupakan aktiviti membantu meningkatkan kemahiran sosial walaupun tidak terlalu bergantung pada kata-kata. Kanak-kanak boleh bermain bersama dan berkongsi hasil penemuan mereka dari 'Messy Play' tanpa perlu menjelaskan perkara-perkara tersebut secara lisan.

SO, hari tu Mummy bawak Balqis untuk join aktiviti Messy Play di Dr Nurhaya Lactation Centre. Seronok sangat Balqis bermain dengan semua "mess" yang ada. Harap dengan join dan melalukan aktiviti seperti ini, dapat lah membantu meningkatkan motor skill dia. Sebenarnya, salah satu sebab nak bawak dia sebab nak bagi dia bersosial sikit. "Social skill" pun penting untuk perkembangan anak-anak jugak.

Jom tengok video ni - sekitar aktiviti Messy Play di Dr Nurhaya Lactation Centre pada 1 Julai 2018.

Review Daiesu Jigsaw White Linen

Daiesu Jigsaw White Linen 

 75% Organic Cotton 25% Linen 

Jacquard woven, Ecru warp with a Bright White weft

 Size 6 

 Wearee : 1y, 4m, 79 cm, 9.5kg

Review Daiesu Sakura Autumn Wrap Conversion Mei Tai

Daiesu Sakura Autumn Baby Size Wrap Conversion Mei Tai

Wearee : 1 year old, 75.5 cm, 8kg

Duration of wearing : about 1.5 to 2 hours

First impression of mei tai : Lovely color irl! <3 <3

First impression when wearing : Baby looks happy in it. No pain on shoulder after few hours of carrying my baby.This is the second mei tai i've tried and first time trying Daiesu's WCMT - definitely more comfortable compare to the other MT. Super love it!

Babywearing journey

I got to know about safe babywearing when I was pregnant with my little Balqis. Before that, I thought narrow-based carrier was okay. I started to read on the information regarding safe babywearing with interest. After Balqis was born, I started to join babywearing groups in Facebook such as Malaysian Babywearers, Babywearers' Haven and Malaysian Babywearing FSOT. I was being a silent reader for quite some time - just read and read to know more about safe babywearing.

I was still looking for options and still considering on which gear would I like, which I should buy - wrap, ringsling, ssc, mei tai? And for that, I opted to try using the kain batik lepas I got from my mum - which she got from my grandmother. That was for me, the cheapest safe babywearing option I had, as long as we wear them right, before making decision on which gear I would like to have.

First try. Balqis at 3 months old.

Kindly ignore the sloppy tie job. 

Balqis first solid food

I've think I've become one of them. I think my new blog posts topics will be mainly about baby and parenthood. Just like how my Instagram is now full with my daughter's photos. Isk.

But if that what keeps me blogging, let it be. Haha.

Balqis turned 6 months old last Tuesday. For new mummies, baby turning 6 months-old marks a very important date as it is the new rule of present time parenting to introduce solid food to baby's diet. And so am I. I was very excited that I even prepare a schedule for Balqis' solid food rotation etc. ppfftt like I'm gonna refer to it anyway. 

Macam takde paper nak kena tulis kan, byk lak masa buat ni kan...

Semangat je lebih tapi nanti bukan ikut pun -___-"

Sunnah on the seventh day of a newborn

Samurah narrated that Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) said, “The boy is mortgaged by his Aqiqa; slaughtering should be done for him on the seventh day, he should be given a name and his head should be shaved.” 

(Hadith No. 1522, Chapters on Sacrifice, Jami’ At-Tirmidhi, Vol. 3) 

When Balqis was still in my tummy, after the 7th month or so, husband and I had some discussions on what to name him/her (we didn't know if she was a boy or a girl yet), when should we have her aqiqah - on the seventh day or wait longer so we could have a proper majlis, and so on and so forth. But every discussions ended up with no conclusion.

Due to not wanting to know if I was carrying a girl or a boy, we had to at least list down few boy and few girl names. And man that was not easy. We've been checking good names for babies from books to websites to phone apps (yes, there are many!). And even though I had this (I think) motherly instinct that I was having a baby girl inside, my list of name are full with only boy names. Husband was not much a help as he also did not have any preference on naming our kids. But both of us agree on one thing - we want single name only.

So every other day it was like, "So apa nama anak kita?" then we both laughed. And no further discussion pfftt.

7 days old no-name baby girl