The Luxury of a Bath Time

“i can't think of any sorrow in the world that a hot bath wouldn't help, just a little bit.” ~someone

for me, taking a long hot bath, soaking amongst white bubbles, surrounded by little ikea scented candles is purely illusion and a luxury that’s over-dramatized through ‘desperate housewives’ or american sitcom. i wonder if any housewives out there really do take long bubble baths.

kalau ade, cerita lah. haha.

because in truth, even a short quick shower alone is a treasured moment! either kazim mengamuk looking for his mak, or a fight ensued between the two elder brothers that needed my immediate intervention.

often i need to tip-toe to the bathroom, and speed off for a shower before anyone noticed i am gone! i need my shower to be brief, efficient and ‘cover’ everything ASAP – metaphorically AND literally!

 

  my youngest kazim, my eldest khaleef, and kahfi in the middle

 

anyway, the pictures tells a different story – the boys get to enjoy LONG playful bath and shower along with tons of bath toys bobbing in the sea of bubbles. especially now that it’s summer in dubai!

sigh.

enjoy them while it last, boys.

 

* * *

oh, enjoy bobby darin’s ‘splish splash’ song!

 

Hot Day + Swim Time : Splash!

so long winter, and welcome summer (isn't it supposed to be spring?)

phew, winter is ending and already so hot! isn't it supposed to be nice and cozy, warm but not scorching? we went out for lunch with mr. khairul's mckk senior who's on transit kl-yemen, and came back longing for a cool dip in the pool! panas!

hot!

the boys were super excited especially khaleef. my boys are really water-babies. erm, come to think of it - budak mana yang tak suka main air? hihi.

especially when they have a bapak who's a has-been school swimmer!

kahfi yang perasan big boy!

kahfi obviously needed to be held constantly for safety reasons, but believe me - he didn't want to be held! the kiddy pool was not that deep and he can actually reach the bottom of the pool when standing so berlagak la si kecik tu!

khaleef super excited!

big bro meanwhile had a whale of a time - splashing, thrashing his feet up the water while hands outstretched and holding on the edge of the pool. plus, he said he's a crocodile terrorizing his unsuspecting bapak and lil bro. arrrr!

kahfi grew bolder and insisted on jumping down towards his bapak's outstretched arms; laughing hysterically everytime!

a hot day. a cool dip. brothers at play. under watchful eyes of their mak. with strict supervision from their bapak. it was a perfect afternoon!

swim, swim, splash, splash!

Kahfi's Bath Mat

kahfi would start wriggling excitedly in my arms as i brought him to the tub. he'd start squealling with delight at the sound of the turned water tap. he'd grinned like a happy clam as i took off his clothes. and then he would stood in silence as he admired the fierce flow of the warm water onto his cute ducky bath mat - waiting for me to finally put him in the water.

he loves it. i love that he loves it!


this ducky bath mat thingy is from mothercare (for any interested mommies) and it's just to help first-time sitting babies to take bath sitting down in the tub. it has a seat with handles at one end, so that another toddler can fit in on the other side. there's also a pink ducky at that other end that will turn super red with the words 'too hot!' as an indicator of the water.


kahfi just enjoy being in the tub. most of the time his favorite thing to do is to just slap his hands above the water and feel the water bounced back at him! other times he would just bite his bath toys as he take a dip.


as excited as he is everytime he gets into the tub with his bath mat, he'd get more hysterically giggly when big bro joins in! khaleef would add music; singing songs loudly while splashing especially kahfi's current fav cartoon theme song from 'thomas and friends'.

i would love to get them to the actual swimming pool, but i'm not too confident puting both boys in water without their bapak, eventhough it's just the kids' pool. so for the time being, i guess it's just a bath tub swim time for you two boys; till you're big enough.



hey, swim pool or bath tub - they're still havin a whale of a time!

Burger Pool Party

good food, great ambiance, the best of company - what more could one wants?


you see, it all started when i was thinking of burger ramlee tepi jalan back home.

so, i whipped up a couple of burgers, toasted some buns, fried some fries, grated the cabbage and carrots for the coleslaw. took out the chilli sauce, tomato ketchup, mayo, mustard, butter and cheese. bagged a bottle of iced water and coke.

and we were ready to roll!


we took our hot and fresh 'picnic bags' on the rooftop where the pool is, and laid down the food stuff. the weather was excellent. looked like summer was going bye bye! it was cool, windy and oh so breezy!

khaleef the 'water boy' was the most excited going into the pool; and more excited coming out once in a while munching hot, freshly fried fries! the pool was heated so the water was warm and cozy so it was just perfect to take a dip on a windy day.


after the 'big boys' were showing too much fun in the water; jumpin and splashing, the 'little' one started makin a racket! so mr. khairul took kahfi into the water too, and boy, he really loved it! he was kicking and pushing the water underneath his feet making all sorts of giggles!

* * *

it was a great 'pool party' for us se-family. plus, the view from the rooftop was breath-taking - with majestic skyscrapers with little dot of lights strewn across the small part of dubai marina that we can see; the view of a faraway atlantis across the ocean, the walk, the dark marina and the moving traffic down by the jumeirah beach residence.


..and enjoying all that in this perfect weather, while munchin our very own 'ramlee burger' with the squeels and giggly shouts of loved ones splashin in the pool.. what a way to spend an evening!

Lullaby at Bath Time

do you have a special lullaby for your kids?
you should!

ba ba black sheep?
twinkle-twinkle little star?
enjit-enjit semut?
air pasang pagi?
*baby got back?

the choice is endless. kita orang melayu memang kaya with classic songs for kids. on top of that, we have the songs in english to choose from. to my non-malay friends, share with us the songs in your mother tongue, will you?

want to relive the classic kids' songs? click here. i had fun scrolling through a list of cute little malay tunes our moms sang for us when were younger. man, i had a laugh singing the ones i know too. it was a blast!

go ahead, sing! i know you want to...


i don't sing to my boys come sleeping time. i usually sing to them when i bathe them and when i clothe them after that! crooning happily while slapping their cute tiny tushy with baby powder and rubbing ointment on their round little tummies.

my favorite song to them while bathing is 'buih sabun' - even mr khairul got sick of that song! while khaleef has outgrown the song, kahfi still has to endure this song for another year or so...

do you know it?

saya suka main buih sabun
gelembung bulat cantik berkilat
bila di tiup angin melayang
terbang tinggi sampai ke awan

sabun campur air kocak kocak
jadi buih
ambil buih celup
tiup buih terbang sayup......

(added 19/4/2011 - click here to listen to the song. thanks to k.e.r.i)

since khaleef is old enough to bathe himself, he would be in the bathroom alone, main air. i would do stuff outside, keeping close eye on him once in awhile.

from inside the bathroom he would occasionally shout - "mak! ABC!" which means he wants me to sing with him the ABC song. sometimes it's, "mak! fish!" which means i have to do a duet of the little mermaid song 'part of your world' with him. if it's not that, it's tigger and pooh or it's miska muska mickey mouse cluhhouse song.

hey, i'm not complaining. anyone can tell you that syigim loves to sing. absolutely love singing. so i'd happily oblige and sang at the top of my lung for him to listen to or sing along from the comfort of his bath tub.

"mak.........nyanyi lagu chris brown pulak, boleh?"