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When raising a kids, there's good days, bad days and ugly one.. It's part and parcel in parenting. A rite of passage. Every parents will go through this same phase. No shortcut through it and No, you can't bypass it. To those out there whom thinking that they're having a hardest time raising their children, those who had this idea that only them had it tough while others don't simply because others appeared like they had it easy, THINK AGAIN!! Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it isn't there... You didn't see it because some people chose not to make public announcement about it, that's all.

There's a time when you can't even get to pee, left alone have a decent and quiet meal and there will be moments and moments where you just wishing that it's all nothing but a nightmare.

When I conceived my 1st child, I determined to provide her nothing but the best. She was fed with what was said to be the best, and most expensive milk ( at that particular time), she got the best toys and bla bla bla.. However, I came to realized and learned that sometimes, we have to provide our kids not with the best you can afford, but with what they need. Which is why you'll find sometimes your first kid would tolerate nothing but the most expensive milk in the market while you other kids despised it and chose Nespray over Enfalac. In short, every child is a new experience. Showered them with tons of toys, dressed them in designer clothes or fed them gold won't do any good if that's not what they need.

Enough with the ramblings...

Anyway, I realized lately I haven't been talking much of anything else but food. Ha ha ha ha.. Again, I would like to stressed out that this is not a food blog. I am not that great of a cook to manage a food blog. Let just put that my cooking is legendary, so no, this is not a food blog. It just that lately, with summer and Ramadhan and all, my life practically revolved around food I can't help it.

Anyhow today, I would like to talk about Alis since it's been ages I've updated her milestones. She's 5 this year by the way and she's going to start her school session a week after Eid Fitri Insya allah. We haven't start shop for her school necessities yet, but my oh my I am thrilled.

Last year, exactly when we're re-assigned here, I still remembered her as my lil toddler, singing nothing but Playhouse Disney songs, caring nothing but her Barbie and prefers pants over skirts anytime.

Over a year... She will closed her bedroom door while changing, she loves drama and love story more than cartoon at times, she speaks English way better than when I am in Standard 4 and she picks up something new quite fast. Few days ago at terawih, I overheard her making conversations with one of Kuwaiti kids and I heard that girl saying words Wahdah, Wahdah to her.. On our way back home, I asked her what they were talking about and she said, that girl like her shirt because there's a flower on it. " Wahdah tu bunga la mummy , she said ". Out of curiosity, I asked her how she knows that wahdah is flower in Arabic, and she replied by saying that she learned it from Ipad. Ermmmmmm I used Ipad all the time, how come I didn't know this kah kah kah...

The next day, again on our way back from mosque, she asked me this...

Mummy, yang suara kuat mengaji tu Allah eh mummy ? After explained to her that the voice she heard was Imam and not Allah, I realized that although she doesn't looked like she pays any attention, she actually did.

More drastic and obvious change was, she didn't sang Dibo the Gift Dragon's soundtrack anymore but Britney's I'm not a girl, not yet a woman... Never failed to give me goosebumps every-time I heard her sang that song. Owhh come on.. I can tolerate Justin Bieber, Hanna Montana but Britney? She's 5 not 15... Sighhhhh.....

Another important change I can't help to notice lately was she cared about her appearance more than anything. She would requested, no, she would demanding certain hairstyle to matched certain outfit, and she'd now applying make up whenever we go out, at least a lipstick. When doing nothing at home, instead of playing like her normal self, lately she love to groom herself and would be in front mirror for hours, which is why I bought her, her own mini dresser. I always caught her belek muka and jerawat as she will put it and "decorating" herself with accessories.

One day, I caught her doing her things so I took below photo and trust me, she's so focus into what she did, she didn't even realized it.





Sighhhhhh... She's definitely getting bigger, wiser, taller and prettier but I can't help but feeling a little older ...