We didn’t go any where else during the weeked except to get Zara her new bed from Ikea. But here are 2 conversations which took place last week which makes me wonder what kind of thoughts Zara goes through in her mind.

Daddy wanted to take a shower. I asked him to see if he can shower Zara.
Daddy: “Zara, come, Daddy bath bath you.”
Zara: *stared at Daddy’s naked body* Don’t want!”
Daddy: “Why don’t want.”
Zara : “Because Daddy so ugly. Like ugly duckring (duckling).”
Daddy and I both tried to stiffle our laughs.
So Zara thinks Daddy is handsome, but has got an ugly body.
Daddy said this is probably her ‘natural defence’ against men, no naked men should go near her, even Daddy.

On another occasion, Zara asked me to go down to play with her, and I said I don’t want.
She said something I couldn’t hear from upstaris, but Tuyam repeated what she said. Tuyam claimed that Zara must be angry for me rejecting her, and she told Tuyam, “Kakak, cut cut mummy. Then cook mummy. And then eat mummy.”
Now upon hearing that, I quickly went down and question Zara.
Me : “Why Zara said Zara wanted to eat mummy?”
Zara : *quiet* (her way of showing she’s embarrassed at what she’d done
Me : “Zara eat mummy already, then no more mummy. Who sleep with you?”
Zara : *quiet*
Me : “Zara is Goliath? So naughty one huh?”
(she has recently started reading some bible stories, and so far, David and Goliath is her favourite)
Zara : “Nooooo. Not Goh-lier. Cut cut fish and eat fish only.”

There are times when Zara wakes up in the morning, and refuse to have Tuyam take over the caring of her.
“Don’t want kakak jaga (Malay : take care) you (me). Mummy jaga you (me).”
“Mummy need to work. Saturday and Sunday then mummy will jaga you.”
“Mummy don’t want work work. Jaga you (me).”
“Cannot. Mummy don’t work work, then no money to buy Zara cheese, chocolate, and fish”
As though she understands, she’ll follow me downstairs.

However, on such a day, there’ll be some protesting when Tuyam gives her her monring bath.
“Mummy bath bath you (me)! Don’t want kakak do.”
And if mummy didn’t oblidge (which I won’t on weekdays), she will cry, while taking her bath, while being changed.

And after that, she’ll walk to the study (where I work) with more complaints.

“Go mummy there. Mummy jaga you (me).”
(The cry is very fake)

And some days, there will be lots of shouting from downstairs from the little girl, asking me to go down and play with her.

“MUMMY! COME DOWN AND PLAY! PLAY BALL WITH ZARA”

Fun eh? Working from home?

Zara is at a stage where she’s very reluctant to share her things, and we have tried hard to make her understand that sharing is nice, sharing is good.

We also remind her that her friends share with her, and so do mummy and daddy.
E.g. “Chloe share with you her toys when you go to her house to play right? So you also must share share.”
“Mummy share with you the nice chocolate ice cream right?”
“Daddy share with you the watermelon right?” etc.
And “must share share” was something we say to her often when she’s not sharing.

Sunday after we’d finished shopping in Ikea and took the lift to get to the car park, Zara saw 2 little girls holding on to an Ikea bear each.
From her pram, she said to one of the girl nearer to her, “Give you (me) the bear please.”
When the girl clutched on the bear tighter, Zara said to her, “Must share share mah.”

Yikes, she thought every thing should be shared and everybody should share…. although she’s still reluctant to do her part.

I’m getting so lazy… or maybe I should say tired.
Lots of work to do, and these 2 days, I have gone to the office to work and sent Zara and Tuyam to my sister’s place.

Zara had a good weekend.
On Saturday at 8am, she woke Daddy up, “Daddy wake up! Zara want go pet shop.”
When we asked her what she wanted to do in the pet shop, she said, “See iguana, dog dog, cat cat, rabbit, mouse”.
So Daddy oblidged, and I told him his daugther has more persuasive power than me. I could never drag him out of bed like that.

On Sunday morning, when we stepped out of the house for a walk, we met Zara’s friend Chloe and her mum walking passed our gate also taking a walk.
Chloe is 9mths older than Zara, and we always see her in the park. Chloe’s mum is also pregnant like me, so we have lots of things to share, about our daugthers, about our pregnancies.
So we went walking together, 2 pregnant ladies with 2 toddlers.
After our walk, Chloe invited Zara to her house to play. Zara had a good time there, this is her first visit to a friend’s house. She wasn’t shy at all, digging out Chloe’s toys from her toy box without prompting, playing the slide, jumping on the sofa like it’s her own home.
I should invite Chloe over next time but I wonder if Zara will so willingly sharing her toys.

Yesterday when I went to pick Zara up from my sis’ place, she told me, “Zara happy. Got kor kor (referring to my nephews) play with Zara.”

She must be so lonely always stuck at home with mummy and Tuyam all the time.

And for me, after getting home from my sister’s place, I just feel like sleeping and do nothing.. So I went to bed with Zara at 10pm. Zzzzzzz.

Lots of people are asking me this question.

I had a feeling I was going to have a boy from the very beginning. Because of the timing of conception (on the dot of ovulation day), and the experience I have with this pregnancy is very different from Zara’s. Not to mention seeing the baby’s hand reach out for the needle during the amnio test, an indication of a boy in the making.

With Zara, there was no morning sickness. My stomach was growing very rounded and towards the side (like a flat wok). With this baby, it is pointy, all growing towards the front.

Do I prefer a girl or a boy? I asked Zara that question as well, “Do you want mummy to have a baby girl or baby boy?” She always replies, “Baby girl.” If Zara was a boy, I would definitely hope for a girl, since she’s a girl, does it matter?

A boy would have completed the family, an ideal. A girl and a boy, what more can you ask?
Daddy would prefer a boy, he said he could share his engineering hobby with him, i.e. fixing the car, building amplifiers etc.

But deep down, I would like another girl.
I think girls are easier to care for, girls ‘listen’ more, and when they grow up, they tend to be closer to their families than boys.
From an economic standpoint, a girl would be better, because she can inherit all Zara’s and Tasha’s clothes and shoes.
My friend who has a girl first and a boy then, told me the caring of the KKJ (Chinese : male organ) is tougher. There are so many folds to clean, like below the testicles, the folds between the penis and testicles etc.

The reason why I wanted to have a second child was to let Zara have a sibling to talk to and discuss things with when we’re old and gone. How many brother and sister out there who are very close? Who can talk about anything under the sun? I just look at myself, we’re never that close to my brother, I talk to my SIL more than him; but with my sisters, we get along fine (of course there were tongue lashing, fists fighting days), we can talk about anything, our MILs, our sex lives, the latest skin care, etc.

So I was very anxious to know the sex of the baby.

And I am very happy to know that we’re going to have another girl! I can sense a wee bit of disappointment in Daddy when I told him the sex, but after a while, he said, “actually, girl is better also hor?” My reply to him is, “No matter what, don’t ask me try for a boy huh, I’m closing shop!”

Every night before I go to bed, I always asked for patience and fairness so that I will be able to give this to Zara (and the coming baby) in her (their) upbringing.

I realised when I’m tired, not feeling well and if I have some misunderstanding with Daddy, my mood is sour, and I will then be a bit harsh on Zara.

When she wakes up in the middle of the night because of a bad dream, and on days when I’m not rested, I would actually grumble loudly to her while patting her, “Please la, go back to sleep la. Mummy also needs rest la.” (I should have just hug and calm her, and pat her back to sleep)

When she’s demands for TV even after she’s just watched a whole Barney show, if my mood is sour, I would tell her a firm “NO! NO MORE TV!” No explanation given. (I should have suggested to her other things to do instead of watching TV)

When she runs around naked after a bath, trying to be playful instead of letting me dress her up, and if I’m in one of those moods, I’ll yank her towards me, and almost shouting, “Don’t be naughty yeah! Quickly, let mummy dress you up!” (I should have explained to her that she should get dress quickly, or she’ll catch a cold).

Get the drift..?

Yesterday, I wasn’t feeling quite well, because I have a bit of abdominal pain (oh well, maybe this was just my excuse). I was giving Zara a tough time.
“Stop splashing water on mummy yeah. Or else you stop swimming!” when she was splashing water in her playful way in her wading pool.
“Hurry up la, get out of the bath now!” during her evening bath, because she wanted to play longer in her bath.
“You tore your book huh? Ok, mummy throw away the book then since you don’t know how to sayang (Malay: Take care) your book.” when she accidentally tore a page out from her book.
“Please hold your cup properly la. Why you keep spilling?” when she drank from her sippy cup and spilled some out.
etc.

In the night, when it was time for her to brush her teeth and get ready for bed. She was making a fuss because I got Tuyam to help her instead of helping her myself.
“Aiya, mummy not feeling well la. Let Kakak do for you.” I grumbled impatiently.
She gave me a reply which woke me up instantly. She said, “Mummy so rude!”. When I asked her what she said. She didn’t dare repeat that, but she said instead, “Don’t want Mummy scold Zara.”.

It quickly brought me to my senses. Why am I being so harsh on her the whole day, or on days when I’m in my sour mood? She’s just being herself like any other days. I felt so guilty.

So I have my dark side too, but I really hope such occasions are rare, and I’m still learning to be patient, if not constantly at least most of the time.

I’ve been trying to teach Zara to use the right ‘magic’ word like Please, Welcome, Sorry, Thank You for different situations. Here is how she uses it.

When she starts shouting for something she wants, like chocolate ice cream.
Me : Zara, what must you say?
Zara : *stops her shouting* Kakak, please, cho-koh-lat ice cream please.
Me : *after Tuyam has given her*, what must you say now?
Zara : Thank you Kakak.

Watching Barney, and she started jumping on the sofa full of excitement.
Me : Zara cannot jump yeah. If you jumped, mummy will turn off the TV.
Zara : *stopped jumping for a mere 15second, then resumed jumping*
Me : Zara, what did mummy say? Cannot jump yeah. Or else mummy turn off the TV.
Zara : *ignored me and continued with the dangerous stunt*
Me : *turned off TV*
Zara : *shocked, looked at me, and then quickly came over to hug me* So sorry mummy, so sorry. So sorry.
I never taught her how to say ‘so sorry’ before, but I guess I’d used it on her before when I accidentally bumped her head or ate the last piece of chocolate.

Half way through dinner, Zara pushed the spoon away when Tuyam attempted to feed her.
Me : Zara, what did mummy say? It’s rude to push the spoon away.
Zara : Thank you kakak. Kakak Please. Zara pao pao (Chinese : Full). Welcome.
Aiks, I taught her to say, “No thank you kakak. Zara pao pao already.” instead of pushing her spoon away, and this is how she said it.

When she sneezed.
Me : Bless you. Oops, you forgot to say something.
Zara : Excuse me. Welcome.

Conclusion, she knows when to use Sorry, Thank you, Please, but still confused about when to use Welcome, but she knows it’s a nice word to use. 😛

Zara is helping out in the house with some of the lighter chores.

When she’s in the mood, she puts away her toys by singing, “crean (clean) up” after the mess she created.
She helps to bring new diaper to us when she needs changing and then tosses her used diaper into the bin.
She helps me bring my book to me, or passes me the remote controls when needed.
She helps pass out cutlery during dinner time.

Last Friday, I saw her helping out at the kitchen. She was peeling off the skin of Petai beans. Tuyam said although she’s very slow in her progress, she was able to peel off the skin of about 10beans, helping out a little, and keeping herself occupied.

Just hope she’ll be able to help out more when the baby arrives. *grin*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Helping my friend out here.

She has a litter of 4 homebred miniature schnauzer puppies (colour : salt & pepper) for sale.

I would love to have one, but I don’t think I have time to care for dogs who needs quite a bit of attention (unlike cats).

If you are interested, please contact : 012-2005658 / 012-2961099 or mc_foong@yahoo.com / omtarre@yahoo.com

You can also check out her add here.

One night during bed time, Zara was jumping on the mattress and refused to quiet down. So I threatened her.
Me : “Zara, stop jumping on the bed. Time for bed yeah”
Zara : *ignored me*
Me : “Zara, you don’t want to stop is it?”
Zara : *ignored me* Jump jump jump!
Me : “Ok, then mummy go work work in the computer room (she refers to the study as computer room). Daddy tuck you in then.” (Knowing very well she won’t let Daddy tuck her in)
And then I pretended to reach for the door knob of the room.
Zara : *Cried* Urgh!!!
Me : *turned back to the bed* So you stop jumping ok?
Zara : *walked towards me, and smacked my shoulder* Beat mummy!
Me : Why you beat mummy?
Zara : Because mummy yai yai (Chinese : Naughty)!
Wah, she thought I was naughty because I threatened to leave the room.

While we were driving to Penang, Zara was getting restless sitting on the car seat for too long. She started swaying her head left and right and that caused her head to knock against the sides of the car seat.
Me : “Zara, you cannot bang your head like that”
Zara : *ignored me, continued to sway her head*
Me : “Zara, you bang your head like that then your head will be painful and you’ll be stupid”
Zara : *stopped what she was doing, and stared at me wide eyes* Mummy say stupid!
Me : *shit!* “Ermm.. yeah, because you’ll be stupid mah, if you bang your head like that”
Zara : *stared at me still* Mummy say stupid *waved her finger at me* cannot say stupid!
Me : Ok ok.. sorry, mummy shouldn’t say stupid. Stupid is not a nice word.
Right, my fault, I told her not to use the word, and I use it myself.

She’s getting to be more like me now.. hmm..

Weekend mainly is Zara’s time. We try to let her has as much fun as she can.

Saturday – Wall Painting

She wanted to do some painting, but when I prepared her paint and drawing paper, she said “Zara want paint body. Paint face, paint knee”.

So we moved her to the bathroom. Let her do some painting on the bathroom wall, and paint her body. After that, I just washed the wall out and gave her a bath.

Artist at work

Artist and her wall painting.

Sunday – Aquaria, KLCC.

Daddy was contemplating if we should go to the zoo or Aquaria, I suggested Aquaria due to the hot and hazy weather.

It was a good outing for Zara. She was very fascinated with the water creatures, and some of the other animals available on display, e.g. snakes, turtles, tortoise, spiders, frogs, raccoon (yes! There’s even a raccoon). Before the trip, I told her she’ll be seeing sharks, puffer fish, star fish, sea horse. I was a bit disappointed when I couldn’t show her any star fish or sea horses, I felt kind of cheated.

There really isn’t much show cases on colorful sea creatures and coral reefs. The main attraction is the tunnel through the big aquarium with sharks, Murray fish, stingray swimming about and above us. If it wasn’t for Zara, I don’t think we would have ever gone.

Zara was very happy to be in the Aquaria

We spent the most time in the tunnel. Zara kept saying “Shark fly high in the sky” after our visit because many times the sharks swam above us.

More time in the tunnel. And at last, we saw some living corrals, with some colourful clown fishes.

And then I got this as a present from Daddy. A Samsung MP3 player. We were considering an iPod and this, but an iPod costs RM200 more for the same features. So the $ factor decided for us.

Daddy got this for me so that I can play some classical music for the baby in the stomach. With Zara, I used to sit in front of my notebook with earphones stuck to my stomach. This would make me so much more mobile, and I can still move about and play with Zara, while the baby has a dose of his/her classical music.