New arrival

Announcing the new arrival of Soosan and Ghaz's twin girls on Saturday, 20th October 2007 (bersamaan 8 Shawal 1428). We were having breakfast at our usual mamak spot with Danial when Azrai got the sms from Ghaz. Both or should I say, all three mother and daughters are doing OK. I think its expected for twins to be born prematurely and to have to spend some time in incubators and ICU so I take it that they're OK.

By the way, it's also our hari raya day after 6 days of puasa enam. The celebration started yesterday when we broke fast at Kelana Jaya Seafood. It's all Maria Tunku Sabri's fault. Both of us was watching Jalan-Jalan Cari Makan teasers on TV and immediately we know what we want to have for dinner. That lady sure knows how to make food looks good.

Back to Soosan and twins. I made a CD of surah-surah for ibu dan anak which consist of Al-fatihah, Yaseen, Maryam and Yusuf for Soosan while Danial took his midday nap. I also have pati ikan haruan for Soosan. It helps with the healing of the surgery. We went to Alamanda to get something for the girls and had late lunch at McDonalds. We're so used to fasting that we hesitated to eat before realising that it's OK to eat.

It was raining cats and dogs as we got to the Sungai Besi Highway and the traffic was pretty bad. I don't know whether it's because of the rain or it's because people are going out for hari raya open houses. Good thing Danial is a good little traveller. He did all his running around in Alamanda and recharges his batteries with pocket naps when he's in the car. Afterall, what can a 2 year old preschooler do in a car after 10 minutes of fidgetting around? I guess it pays to plan my travelling when Danial was younger where we go out as he's about to take his nap, after feeding and changing; all comfortable and nice. The only drawback that we have to go through now is Danial's refusal to sit in the child seat. He'd scream and tries to undo to seatbelt and get out of the seat. It's not easy to ignore him now that his vocabulary has improved tremendously and he'd asked us to let him out. So, we've been bending the rule a bit by letting him sit with me in the front seat. He loves it when I cuddle him as he doze off with his stuffed toy, Koko covering his face.

True to form, as we reached Pantai Medical Centre, Danial woke up all refreshed and set to go. We bumped into Liris and Rizal at the lobby. They were about to leave. Liris' bump looks quite small for a December baby but then again, Liris is petite. If the doctor says she's on track, then, size doesn't matter anyway. And it's a girl. Kesian Danial. He's going to be left out when all the cousins his age starts playing with dolls and cooking set and he doesn't have a sparring partner to do his Ultraman stunts.

We saw new parents, Ghaz and Soosan. Aunty Zizah and Yem was there too. Soosan looks quite comfortable as she has half a tube of epidural to mask the pain. Good luck to her when she's off that. Been there done that. We couldn't see the twins yet as they're in ICU for a few days. Nevermind, we'll see them soon enough.

We left after an hour there. Dzareen and Aunty Norizah came to visit as well. Made a quick stop to IKEA to get something for Karim and Alfa's baby boy. It was on the last leg, Danial got upset when we didn't hand him the camera. He was kicking and screaming. I set him down becaus he didn't want to calm down. He was rolling all over the place and made quite a scene. Now I know why the call it the Terrible Two. Parents be prepared. I had to pick him up against his will and he was trashing all the way. There was a bed near the cashier and I put him down there. He was still crying. Fortunately, there was a nice lady who came and offered Danial some chocolates. He stop almost immediately! It's like the lady found the switch to turn off his tantrums. I was so grateful to her. As Danial calms down and munch his treat, the lady's husband and her two year old came over. She said her son throws temper tantrums as bad as Danial and the way to calm him down is to offer them treats. So, we learned something new today. To always keep some biscuits and chocolate handy in case of temper tantrums.

We went to Karim and Alfa's hari raya open house. Danial was having a field day there. There're some boys running around. He didn't have to get permission to join in the fun, he just join the troop. The cute thing about him is when other kids were having fun, they normally forget to eat. But not my little boy. He'd stop occasionally and take a few strands of spagetti and sets off again. At least I know that he's having fun and a full stomach too.

We also taught Danial our names. He calls Azrai, "Ajai" and me, "Oji". He's quite good at pronouncing his full name too. When asked, he'd say "Aniel" and you have to ask "Aniel apa?" and he'd cheekily reply, "Aniel Ajik". Like in the Bond movies, "My name is Bond, James Bond".

Anyway, to Soosan and Ghaz, congratulations for the arrival of your bundles of joy. Your lives would definitely change from now on. What's more for a first timer, you guys have twins. It's double the joy and double the other stuff as well. We have one, Danial alone and it's a whole lot of things we have to deal with. Just as we thought we had the hang of things, new things would arise and changes the equilibrium. It's a continuous learning process. When Danial was small, I thought it was so tough taking care of him. Breastfeeding, changing diapers, etc. and I don't understand and what more believe when people who came to visit, kept saying enjoy him when he's small and that it's the easiest time to take care of him as he sleeps most of the time. Only now, looking back I can trully appreciate the truth of it all. It's not going to get any easier as they grow older as I initially thought. It gets tougher and tougher. Parenting is no walk in the park. But with God's grace, we'll always rise to the occasion, no matter what they are. I think parenting is more of a hike. There's hills and valleys. Along the way, we have to stop, smell the roses, enjoy the scenery, appreciate the beauty, live in the moment; and when you reach your destination, you know it's worth it. Always...