High F.I.V.E!!

Happy 5th Birthday, Little D!!!! My Little D turned 5 last Saturday, just us our dear doctor friend, Mynn, turned ... more than 5! Happy Birthday to Mynn too! In actual fact, I'm just not in the mood to write an entry to be published here. I have so far, written four drafts, which I later deemed as irrelevant, unnecessary and just simply imperfect. Hence, none did I publish. However, it is just unfair if I didn't write an entry on Little D's birthday, because each child usually gets one entry on their birthday - not that it actually works out as a present to them! This year, ever since his daddy's birthday (29th October), Little D had been looking forward to his own special day. The reason was simple; he knew that his birthday came after his daddy's. So, to a little boy of four and a half, to suddenly be surrounded by so many family members from afar meant that he would be having one of the most wonderful birthday bash ever! Thus, imagine how shattered he was to discover that things turned out not like he had expected. He moaned when Atok and Opah said that they were leaving before his birthday. As if that was not enough, he groaned when Tok Bah informed he was going back before Little D's birthday! How come people came but were leaving so soon? So, to cheer the dampened spirit and disappointed child, we decided to have a small party for the little one a week prior to his actual birthday. Well, I explained to him that we weren't going to have a party with colourful balloons hanging, or people over because Mr D had just left us. However, he could choose his own birthday cake with his choice of superhero on it, and we could all have the cake together with Tok Bah, a day before Tok Bah's departure back home. He agreed. Fortunately, we had our relatives from London, the K's, who came over for the weekend. The more the merrier. I had told Little D that we'd have the cake together with the K's and he was already excited. He loved playing with K - one who he could wrestle and tickle with. Well, in this case, he seemed to be the one who bullied K to bits...

So, after lunch, we sang a little tune to the little one and had Tok Bah read a piece of du'a for him. We also produced presents for him. To our surprise, even the K's brought presents for Little D, though I didn't tell them we were having the advanced so-called-party that weekend.

Hence, since Little D is a fan of all-boys'-superheroes, his birthday theme was just that. He had a Transformers' cake and toy, a Power Rangers' hat, scarf and gloves set, a Spiderman electric toothbrush, an Nsect Nano Stryker remote control , and a variety of books. Oh, a week prior to that, he also got some advanced presents which were trousers and shirt, a Mag warrior and some other figures I fear I know not of.

But all that happened more than a week ago. Last Saturday, 24th November, I baked some cupcakes for Little D, just as a reminder that the actual date to his birthday had atually arrived.

When it came to decorating the cakes, the older ones helped me out. I must apologize for not posting any pictures here. The camera we've been relying on for so long has left us just like its owner has. Thus, everything was captured in our minds... at least for now.

Although the birthday boy had already known that I was baking him some cupcakes and the older ones were decorating them, he still had that surprised look on his face when we walked in the living room with the decorated platter. We kissed him all over and he filled the room with giggles and laughter - the best music to all ears!

And that brought me back to five years before, the day I was in labour for the third time. It all came so very easily, on 12th Ramadhan, which was three weeks sooner than the expected due date. I was at the computer when the sensations of the first contractions stung. No big deal. The pain came and went until I thought I'd better just time them to see how far apart they were. To my astomishment, after about an hour, I realised that the contractions were 10 minutes apart. I went to look for Mr D, and told him that the little one had probably decided to surprise us all. I wasn't sure myself because with the twins, it was a C-section when I was exactly 40 weeks. Then, my princess was a week overdue. I seriously thought that my babies would always come late, regardless what.

Yet, the contractions on that morning continued to come, ever so consistently. We packed our things along with the children's and rushed over to my inlaws'. My parents were away in the Holy Land, but I rang my eldest sister up and told her that I might be in labour.

Apart from the excruciating pain that attacked me every 5-10 minutes, one could possibly say that I was rather calm. We went in through the emergency unit at the hospital, and I was sent to the labour room. A few hours later, a small bundle of baby (2.95 kgs) wrapped up in a blue blanket was passed on to me. No words could describe how I felt; it was an easy delivery, unlike the ones I had before. I was blessed with a boy, a knight who would be the pride of our souls. And, all throughout, Mr D was always by my side.

When we were choosing a name for the little one, I had told Mr D that I wanted him to carry the prophet's name: with a Muhammad or an Ahmad. We agreed with Muhammad. So, this little one has the longest name of all. The following two were chosen by my other half, making his name now: Muhammad Aaryf Dean, fondly known as Addean.