Today 31st Dec 2014 is the last day of year 2014. 365 days has gone in what seems to be in a blink of an eye. But in that blink of an eye, so many things have happened. Maybe not literally to me or my family but to Malaysian. There were too many sad incidents involving fellow Malaysian this year. The missing MH370 which is still missing, MH17 brutally shot down and this month, the final month of 2014 we are faced with the worst flood ever in the east coast with over 200,000 people evacuated from their homes. Even their places of shelter are in danger. And with recent event, the crash of Air Asia QZ8501 that shocked the whole world, it close this year with so many sad events. With that, I sincerely give my condolences to all the people involved or affected by these recent unfortunate events. I can only imagine what they are going through but only Allah knows how they actually are.
As for me, overall it was a good year. Got back my old job at my old company and started work right after Wildan reached 2 years old as planned. Even though I would prefer not to go back to work, financially...I need to. I have too. Also visited my dad in Kuala Terengganu back in August for Wildan to bond and play with him. It was a normal year for us. Nothing abnormal or special thing this year except for maybe we got the keys to our new house. Alhamdulillah everyone in our family is in good health. Wildan seems to be doing well as well. He is learning to use more vocabs now. Just yesterday he was trying to tell me what he did at his day care and I laughed at how cute he was trying to say the words he was thinking of. I spend half the time trying to figure them out. LOL
Next year, we have a lot of travel plans and I for one is really looking forward to it. Hope we will have a better year in 2015, for us, our family and friends and for Malaysian who have been affected by the recent unfortunate events. Hope all of you will be strong and rise again. Hope and pray that we can bravely overcome any challenges that may come towards us in 2015. InsyaAllah.
Today, our little sunshine is 31 months old. He is not so little anymore but we still thinks he is. Now I understands why my mom wanted me to stay small when I was about Wildan's age. :) I can't believe he will be 3 years old in merely 5 months. uhuk..
I brought him to his regular paeds to take his last dose of Hep A vaccine and the paeds said he has positive growth. His height and weight is climbing up the chart. He is currently 13.5kg and about 90cm tall. Yeay!! Alhamdulillah...his health is also better. No more flu as of today and he sure is one active boy. I am happy to know that his growth is according to his growth chart (reference from babycentre LINK). He is still obsessed with his toy cars and now he is really into robots. He loves building robots and cars using his lego at home. He can also identifies few animals but sometimes he does get them mixed up..hahaha..and still pelat. His pelat is so cute!! He counts anyway he please. tee..two...teee....ahahahah...slowly...but insyaAllah...he is getting there.
One thing I myself is amazed by him is his level of obedience and willingness to help. He is very helpful and sometimes very independent. Now sometimes he wants to wash his own dishes and often he will clean up and put away his toys before he goes to bed. I think because we made it a routine so now he knows most of the time what he should do before going to sleep. Just last night he asked me to arrange his toy cars with him. He said "Ami...emah (kemas)"..(Mummy...clean up) while pointing at his cars on the carpet. Last two days we did out laundry at a DIY laundry shop and he was so eager to help. From putting in the clothes inside the washing machine, to inserting the coins then moving the clothes into a dryer and later to take them out. He even insisted to carry the laundry basket with his clothes on his own without help. Even when my hubby wanted to take it to put it in the car he want to do it himself. Other people at the laundry shop was looking and smiling at him. Mummy so proud of you Wildan. Hope you grow up a reliable, obedient and helpful boy as like you are now. :)
We have been wanting to buy a house for sometime now but never found a suitable affordable one. I used to say, the ridiculous house price now, we can only afford to buy the toilet :P Finally, last year, we manage to buy one. However, it is in Seremban. Since we don't have to put any money upfront except for our booking fee and I like the layout, we decided to buy it. Our first intention was to sell it back once it is complete.
We finally got our keys on 22nd Nov 2014, which is way early than expected. We thought it will only be completed by June 2015 but it turns out our house is Phase 1, so it was completed earliest. Which means....we are now paying full repayment amount on the house. *faint*. Alhamdulillah....still makan nasi...tak makan pasir. hehehehe..tp mungkin makan pasir or ikat perut kumpul duit nak buat renovation. We went to inspect the house once we got the keys and there are still minor defects need to be repaired. Once we saw the house, our mind changed. Well to be exact, we can't decide our minds. Whether to sell or to stay there. Our workplace is way to far from the house location but we love the house. For us, it is totally worth the money. It is spacious to us. Am already imagining the design and layout of the house especially the kitchen. hahaha..I love my friend's Diyana's house. She was so lucky she got a corner lot house at a very good price. I was also kicking myself for not taking the end lot house. *dush!!* We should have. hmmm...
So now, we decide to continue with minor renovation slowly...since our money also comes in slowly. Once everything is settled, then we will decide again. To stay or to sell. hmmmm....I can totally imagine us staying in the house. Wildan can run freely in the living hall as it is spacious. The only factor that made us think about it is, the distance to work. I don't want to spend less time with Wildan and spend more time to work. Now, it only takes me about 5 minutes to reach Wildan's day care and another 10-15 minutes to reach home from there. Unless, I find another work near the new house. So many options...so many factors..yet...only 2 brains. hahaha...
We have't done anything yet to the house. It is still togel and we are waiting for the defect repair to be done. Hopefully we can put aside some money by Jan 2015 to start with our new house project. :)
Last Tuesday, someone from fire prevention organization came to the office to give a talk on Fire Prevention Safety Awareness. They came once before and it was enlightening. And this is kind of a refresher course for me and indeed it was a very good session with a lot of info.
The most interesting fact he shared was the fact that we know there is a risk of fire in our home but we are never prepared for it if it happens. The main cause of a fire in a house in due to short circuit and then human negligence. Nowadays we have a lot of electrical items in our house and the risk is even higher but most often not until it happens to us then only we take action to prevent. However, fire is not a small thing. It is a dangerous thing that can take lives. We took prevention from thieves by installing grills and locks and some even take extra precaution by installing CCTV and alarm. But how many of us have a smoke detector at home? A good fire detector cost so much less than a CCTV or a grill and each home should at least have one.
The presenter presented a few videos and newspaper cutting about previous fire cases. One was horrifying video of a couple who was trapped in their burning car and they screamed for help for 3 minutes before they totally went silent. The video was taken by a passerby just a view 15 feet from the burning car. You don't actually see the victims but hearing them is enough to make your hair stands. People around tried to help by trying to put off the fire but they failed. Even cars nowadays can easily burn because of all the wiring with the electronic functions in our car. As you can see, there are more and more cases of cars went in flame after an accident or even as when the driving is driving the car. The second story that is stuck in my head is a mother died saving her 3 children from a fire from her house. That was too much to handle I literally cried in the session.
By actual fact, to prevent fire from happening 100% is very hard. There is always 1% chance for it to happen. Why? Because of all the wiring we have around our building...our home. We can prevent fire by being careful with anything that can cause fire in our home such as gas and matches. But short circuit can happen without us knowing it. If the fire starts and we are aware of it when it is still small, we still have the chance to put it out if we have a fire extinguisher. Again I ask, how many of us has a fire extinguisher at home? And how do you detect a smoke if the small fire occurs while you are fast asleep in a deep sleep? You won't realize it. In a demo video he showed us, a small fire that started from a short circuit from a small Christmas tree decor at the edge of a living room manage to burn up the living room in 48 seconds. 48 seconds people!! I would really encourage you guys to at least install a smoke detector in your home. At least you will know when there is fire starting in your house.
Before this I thought smoke detector needs wiring but I was wrong. Yeah...am ignorance too. There is also model that uses battery. And the battery will only need replacement once a year. There is a few range of smoke detector in the market. Starting from RM80 to RM150. Just make sure you choose the one with alarm sound more than 90dB..otherwise the sound won't be loud enough for you to hear when you are sleeping peacefully in your room. Also make sure the brand or type you choose is not super sensitive as it will go off even at the slightest smoke possible. You can either screw it to your syiling or use a good double sided tape (recommened 3M brand)
Sample of a smoke detector (Alarm Sound : >95dB) RM149 and comes with battery
Smoke detector is used to alarm you when there is a fire starting but what do you use to put off the fire? Surely you can't use water because we have a lot of electrical wiring in our home. Unless it was due to burning cloth or paper. But if it is due to short circuit, NEVER use water. So, maybe the easiest way is to run out of the house once your smoke alarm goes off. But would you want your whole house to burn down with all your belongings? I don't think so. And please don't try to save your belongings while there's fire in your house. Maybe your handbag yes. No I don't mean you handbag collection. I mean the handbag where you put all your important documents like identification cards and others. Again, you can choose to run out of the house, call the fire department and while waiting, maybe your house has burned down. OR..you can also opt to have a fire extinguisher at home. I think many of us knows how does it looks like because surely we have seen one in a shopping mall or at the office. If your office doesn't have one, then you should question the management. However, you can't use that type at home. Actually yes you can use but it would be too heavy for someone to lift it up. A women wouldn't be able to handle that weight unless she is a big strong women. I know It would be harder for me. So for me, 1kg fire extinguisher is enough for a home.
There is two types of fire extinguisher in our market. One is Malaysian standard (MS) which we normally sees in the shopping mall or office building called ABC Power and one is Bristish standard (BS). The only difference is British standard has anti explosion system (ABS). The British standard is suitable to be put in a car as it has heat resistance since the temperature inside our car can go up on a hot day. For the MS, you will need to service every year but for BS service only once every 10 years. You can find the MS fire extinguisher at any of major hardware store for about RM89.00++ and yearly service will cost you about RM50. While BS fire extinguisher will cost you RM228 but it is much safer with AES and you won't need to service it for the next 10 years. So if you calculate, in long term BS is better and save your money plus no hassle of every year sending it for servicing.
Left : Osafe BS Fire Extinguisher
Right : ABC Powder MS Fire Extinguisher
I would recommend everyone to at least have one smoke detector and one fire extinguisher at home especially when you have kids in the house. Because it happened before, when the adult panicked, sometimes they tend to forget the child. :'(
Other tips that may come handy:
Keep an extra set of keys to all the locks on your house in each livable bedroom.
Make sure everyone in your house know where the keys are
Make sure everyone knows how to use the fire extinguisher
Batteries can cause fire. Keep all your batteries safely
If you are interested purchase the Osafe Fire Prevention product, you can contact them directly.
OSAFE FIRE INSPECTION SDN BHD
No 5-G, Jalan Kenari 12, Bandar Puchong Jaya
47170 Puchong, Selangor
Tel : 03-80717119/7266
Fax : 03-80717288
Email : serviceteam@osafefi.com
Website : www.osafefi.com
They also have a branch in Johor, you can visit their website for more info.
My last post on Wildan was in April 2014. It has been awhile. Means..his diary is not up to date. I really want to write a letter to him in this blog but I think I would be crying more than I write so I could never even started. A friend did one for her 2 sons...but she is kind of a funny person...even that...as am reading her post..even it is funny, I still have tears when I think of Wildan. Thinking of me leaving him...even now...makes tears come to my eye. sigh....
I guess the last post was in April when he had mumps and I am super happy that it is over. I really..really hope he will not go through that again. I was lucky I was a stay at home mom at the time. Otherwise, am not sure how to handle the situation as it lasted for almost two weeks. :(
So, now I have changed my title from a SAHM back to a WM (working mom) again. It was a hard decision but a it had to happened. Why? Because..unfortunately...money doesn't come bergolek2 for nothing. I still need to earn. I have used up all my savings to cover all the 10 months expenses while I was being a SAHM. Although I wish I could use that money to travel..Wildan was way more important. Alhamdulillah...his condition improved a lot. He had no flu or cough while I was taking care of him. After spending 5 days in a hospital twice, that was it for me. No more feeding him medicines..no more nebulizer and no more oxigen. That's it. Otherwise, he might just have to depend on the meds for years to come. Wildan was born premature and his lungs wasn't that strong to begin with..so he had the risk of infection. Some kid may be okay when they get flu, but for Wildan...it can create bacteria in his lungs.
He will be 2 years 7 months on 29th December and to me he is growing too fast. As a paranoid mom, am always concern about his growth. Be it physical or mental wise. I was afraid when he can't identify his body parts when other kids can at his age..and when he hasn't started talking yet. But now...all those worries has slowly began to go away. He is a talkative boy...even though a bit pelat and he can happily identify his body parts now. He is still a good boy with occasional tantrum but for a boy his age...I am very proud of his obedient level. He knows he has to put away and clean up his toys before he goes to bed. He knows not to touch dirty things and will always report to me when he saw something dirty. One time he even took tissues to wipe it. LOL If you ask me how do I train him...maybe I'll share that in my next post.
Me and My Boy from Heaven (Wildan)
I am truly grateful that I found a good day care. Although it is a bit far from home but it is on the way to work. So am okay with it. It is not perfect, but Wildan seems happy and his health was not affected that much. He still has occasional flu when other kids have it but not to the extend where he needs to be admitted or any nebulizer treatment. The day care belongs to a friend of mine. When I was searching for a day care to send Wildan to before I started working, I got to know she just opened a day care. So I went to check out and decided to send Wildan there. The fees are reasonable. Even though they may have hick ups here and there, am still okay since Wildan is ok and they are improving their service from time to time. If anyone is looking for a day care in Selayang area, you can ask them. Little Muslim Childcare Centre, Selayang Paragon. They accept baby as young as 2 months old and can handle EBM.
Am actually thinking of sending Wildan to a pre-school next year but it seems that we will have a lot in our plate next year. Our house just completed and we just got the keys, so we will need to put away money to do some minor renovation. :) InsyaAllah...
