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Rafe's 1 Month Birthday

And so the boy is a month old! (More than that by now but thank god for backdated blog entries, teehee!) This month has really flown by. Since Adik's adventures in bilirubin, it has been fairly peaceful for us. Like most newborns, his activities are confined to eating, sleeping, pooping, peeing and crying. He does have a sweet disposition and is definitely far more mellow than Yaya at this age. In fact our challenge is mostly trying to get good pictures of him while he's awake. Seems like all the pictures I post on Facebook is of him sleeping. Here's one of him with his eyes open:

* Mouse over pictures for captions

42 Months

It has been a milestone month for everyone! Yaya spent her first month as Kak Yaya (big sister Yaya), and we all had to adjust to having Rafe in our lives. And now the girl is officially three and a half years old! Halfway to four! Craziness right?

Note: Mouse over the pictures for additional captions.

While Becky was here...

As you know, Vin's cousin Becky and her family were here for Rafe's birth. Everyone arrived the day before Rafe was born, and everyone except Becky and Aunt Mary (Becky's 98-year-old grandmother) left the day after he was born. Becky (and Aunt Mary) stayed to help us out for the next few days. Here they are with their beautiful smiles:

Note: Mouse over the pictures for captions

The Bilirubin Files

As mentioned in the previous entry, Adik was going to experience some complications in his young life. On Saturday January 7, we took him to see the doctor because his left eye was gunking up despite our best efforts. His usual pediatrician was unavailable given that it was a Saturday but we saw one of the other doctors in the practice. She looked at Rafe's eye and prescribed an antibiotic ointment to put on his eye. She also expressed concern over his color and sent us to the satellite Dayton Children's Hospital that was in our town to get a check on his bilirubin levels. So off we go where Rafe gets his feet poked and blood taken for said test. Then we got his prescription filled and went home.

That afternoon we got a call from Rafe's regular pediatrician, telling us that his bilirubin levels were too high (21.2) and he was jaundiced and needed to be taken to the main Dayton Children's Hospital in Dayton and that she would call ahead so they would be expecting us.

So it began. I took Rafe in while Vin and Yaya stayed in the car. I would keep Vin updated via cell phone. It seemed unnecessary to bring Yaya into the ER and get everyone exposed to who knows what in there. First Rafe had his foot poked again for another blood sample for the bilirubin test. Then he gets strapped into this contraption:

Note: Mouse over the pictures for captions

Rafe's 1 week birthday

Here's an excuse for gratuitous baby pictures, Rafe's 1 week birthday! I've included pictures of the boy taken over the past week, including some professionally taken ones that we purchased.

Note: Mouse over pictures for captions

The Arrival of Rafiq Charles

The new member of our family has arrived. Vin and I welcomed our son Rafiq Charles Renstrom to the world on December 29, 2011 at 4:35 PM, Eastern Time. He weighed 8 lb 11.2 oz (3.95 kg), and was 20 1/2 inches long. In other words, he was 2 oz heavier but the same length as his sister Yaya was at birth.

Here are some pictures of Rafe's (a.k.a Adik) birth.

Note: Mouse over the pictures for captions

Irfan's Imperial Entanglements

So the other day, Irfan was in a blaster shootout with some Imperials - perhaps CompForce troopers.

Click here to check out the video.

41 Months

Another impossibly quick month has passed. Don't ask me where the time went. Despite my best efforts, this entry is quite late and (guiltily) backdated. My excuse: work. I had a lot to accomplish before handing off for maternity which meant that I had to work through the Christmas holidays even! Excitement and nervousness abounds - Yaya's Adik is scheduled to arrive on December 29th, and we have much to do to be ready! Yaya was stellar throughout this period. She didn't complain that Mama was always in the office, making me feel all kinds of guilt. But as always, she is an absolute joy for us.

Aidiladha 2011: Back To Sitiawan

This Aidil Adha we drove back to Sitiawan. As per standard operating procedures, we took a family photo Aidiadha morning, before heading out to visit others.

I love this photo of Irfan on the wooden pier by the river. I should have waited 30 seconds later, because by the time I stowed the camera, a little boat went by with a happy-looking bunch of children. Here follows a selection of photos of our time in Sitiawan.

40 Months

So the girl is now 40 months old! Three and 1/3 years old. This month has totally flown by and it's definitely been a crazy one! For one thing, we had our first October snowstorm during our last work trip out to New Jersey until after the new baby arrives. It was a fun time, and everyone was so kind to us out there, friends, co-workers, the hotel staff that has become like family to us. We will miss everyone until we get to go back on the road, the traveling troupe + Adik by then . But that won't be for quite a few months, and we're definitely looking forward to being home for the next few months straight. It will be different, and certainly new for all of us. Yaya has been part of the traveling troupe now since she was 13 months old, and I hope she won't get cabin fever from not being hauled around for a while.

Boy or girl? 32 weeks in 3D

Today we went to see Yaya's Adik in 3D. He is 32 weeks old and was a bit shy so had to be coaxed to show his face. Unlike Yaya, he seems much more modest around the camera while Yaya was quite the show off, sucking her thumb and everything! I do think there's quite a resemblance to Yaya, no? Sadly my OB no longer has movie recording capacity so no little movie of Adik. We tried though.

Here are the pictures:

Wait, does this mean that like Yaya, Adik will look 100% like Papa for his entire first year of life, leaving me to look like the nanny?

A Mini Comic Con in KL

Last Saturday, Earth 638 the comic shop located at Kelana Mall - in colaboration with Banshee Creative held COMICS ARE COOL, the first unofficial mini comic convention. From 4pm to 9pm, visitors came to the store to buy comics and meet creators. Local indie publishers also sold their comics and signed their work. There was also a line where artists drew sketches for visitors.

Below, Sheldon Goh draws!

Tan Eng Huat sketches Thor on the big collaborative card thing!

Artists' Alley (or perhaps Artists' Nook would be more precise) is just bustling with all the participating comic professionals before visitors form a line for signing and sketches. Among the guests for the day were Sheldon Goh, Tan Eng Huat, Lefty Julian, Alan Quah, Yazid and Muhamad Azhar. Even Reggie Lee dropped by in the evening.

39 Months

At 39 months, Yaya is now becoming aware of the seasons changing - the need to wear jackets to go outside, the leaves on the trees turning color and falling off the branches, etc. It's amazing since last year she really didn't pay that much attention to these changes. Here she is playing in the leaves. She liked to throw it around and jump around in it, but eventually she did help Papa bag these autumn leaves.

Boy or girl? Hehe.. 27 week pics

Yes, indeed, Yaya's Adik is a boy, inshallah. Here is a of picture of his face from the 27 week ultrasound we just had on Thursday, 6 October 2011.

His weight is now an estimated 2 lb 11 ounces (little over 1 kg) which is average for his age, and his thighbone apparently measured longer than average. Surprise, yeah? 12 more weeks before we meet him in person, people!

I repeat my wonderment at the pot-bellied people of the world. How do you sleep? Because I for one am very uncomfortable. This time around I am experiencing some pregnancy-related carpal tunnel syndrome in both arms (yes arms, not just wrists) which is a bummer. But otherwise, we're all doing well.

Adik seems to be more physically active in utero than Yaya was at this same age, and earlier. His favorite hobbies are dancing on my bladder, kicking me in the ribs, and keeping me up at nights. The fun has already begun.

Birthday Cake Transforms Into...

Well, the birthday cake was transformed into digested matter submerged in digestive fluids in our stomachs. However, the box with which the cake was transported was transformed into ...

38 Months

So Yaya had her 38 month birthday while we were in New Jersey. Another quick and fun month has gone by, and here is the girl lounging on the bed in the hotel while Papa calls in a delivery dinner order:

Salam Aidilfitri from... uh, Ipoh?

That weekend we tagged along Abang Ngah's engagement convoy from Kampung Permatang all the way to Ipoh, or more precisely near Simpang Pulai. As usual the adventuring party that was formed by the family was a fun and boisterous one - despite the inordinately hot day we had.

One thing's for sure: the food prepared by the other family was very delicious.

Best ABC This Side of the Euphrates

When we balik kampung to Sitiawan, we try to drop by at Ain's favourite ais batu campur (ABC) restaurant, which just happens to be at the Lumut Esplanade, overlooking where the Dindings River meets the sea. Most times we arrive, there is an festival-like air to the area which has a food court by the water as well as a children's playground.

Anyways, here's the ABC:

Salam Aidilfitri from Pasir Mas

This year it's balik kampung to Pasir Mas for Aidilfitri! And for the first time ever, we flew to Kota Bharu.

 Why did we fly there? Cause I don't think the car can survive an 8 hour cross-country trip. Heck, it can barely survive a trip to Sungai Buloh.

37 Months

Hey everyone! So the girl is 37 months old today. We had her 3-year checkup this morning and she was 40 1/4 inches tall (102.2 cm) and 38 lbs (17.2 kg), and at the 99th percentile for both height and weight. Her speech and vocabulary now seems advanced for her age (what a change from last year's checkup and the not talking at all business!). She counted to 25 for the doctor (skipping 16 which is the norm for her), and correctly identified the stethoscope used, and what it was for. She liked opening her mouth and saying "aaah" and letting the doctor shine a flashlight in her ear. She didn't mind the sphygmomanometer that took her blood pressure and "hugged" her arm. She didn't even cry when she was given one jab, and was very pleased with the tweety bird bandage that she got for it. Everything is going well, Alhamdulillah!

Here's our girl, modeling one of her the new sweaters received from Opah and Atok: