I bought a new set of pajamas for Zara and had her put on tonight.

Me : *pretending* Who bought this pajamas for you, huh?
Zara : “Mummy bought from Reject Shop (this shows how often I buy her clothes from Reject Shop) one.”
Me : “This is not from Reject Shop. This is from Marks & Spencer. Do you like it?”
Zara : “Yah it’s very nice.”
Me : *testing her*“Mummy used your ang pow money to buy the pajamas you know?”
Zara : “It’s ok, you can use the money.”
(Talking like an adult!)
Me : “What about other things? Mummy can use your money to buy other things or not?”
Zara : “You are my mummy, of course you can use my money. Other people cannot use my money, but mummy can.”

^.^ How sweet.

If she said this to me when she’s 20, that’ll be really nice.

I think I’m slacking I’d not been writing as regularly as I have wanted because of work commitments.
I’m supposed to write about CNY but then I thought let me write this first before I forget or it becomes stale news.

On Zaria

She started taking her first steps 3 weeks ago.
1, 2, 3 steps while her hands were let go, and now 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 ….. until she lost her balance, and thud, she lands on her buttocks.
Most of the time, she holds on to the wall and cover the distance she wants to travel.
When she looses her balance and lands on her buttocks, she frowns and looks at us, waiting for the encouraging words from us.

When I returned from Japan, she clung on to Daddy, and cried when she saw me.
Didn’t allow me to carry or touch her.
When I offered her the breast, she pinched it, and looked at me with suspicion.
Daddy said she’s taking the bottle really well when I was away, maybe I should wean her.
But then, I wanted to breastfeed her till she is at least 18months like I did with Zara to be fair, so I continued to offer her.
On the 2nd day, she clung on to me, as though regaining her memory of me and the breast.

She started ‘hitting’ her self when she is angry or unhappy, she just smacks the head and frowns. Don’t know where she learns that. *sigh*

A typical conversation we have during feeding time. I like to tease her and see her reaction.
Zaria : “Milk”.
Me : “Bottle milk or breast milk?”
Zaria : “Best”.
Me : “Mummy gives you bottle milk, ok?”
Zaria : *smacks herself and frowns* “Ugh!” or *moves her index finger in front of her face* “No”
Me : “Mummy gives you breast milk then”
Zaria : *smiles and moves herself to the bed or sofa* “K!”

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On Zara

I don’t think I’d mentioned this before, but since her 3rd birthday, she refused to put on a diaper. She has been diaperless ever since. She has 2 accidents so far and we thought that has to do with Tuyam leaving us.

She’s talking and singing more. She’ll entertain us with her make up stories or songs, or sometimes throws in some dance moves as well.

Some recent events :
She was singing Baa Baa Black Sheep and sang, “Yes sir, yes sir, three bag full.”
Daddy corrected her by saying it’s three bagS full, not three bag full. Daddy told her she needed 3 bagS or else there won’t be enough to give the master, the dame and the little boy.
She kept getting it wrong, and after several corrections by Daddy, she sang, “Yes sir, Yes sir, one bag full. None for the master, none for the dame, one for the little boy who lives down the lane.”

On our way home one day, she wanted to get off her car seat to sit close to me.
“Mummy I don’t want to sit in the car seat any more.”
“We’re on the highway, so you must sit on your car seat.” (I sometimes allow her to be without her car seat when we make short trips to the nearby mini-market.)
“What if we’re on the low-way, can I come out from the car seat?.”

MIL nick-named her Lou-chou (老粗, which is used for someone who’s roudy in Cantonese) when she becomes too rough.
So these days, when we see a behaviour we didn’t like, we ask her, “Are you a lou-chou?”
She’ll quickly replies, “I’m a princess, not a lou-chou.”, and quickly change her behaviour.
It’s a very good way to remind her of her manners, and that she’s a girl. 😛

What a week it was. I put in 12hrs daily at work, slept at 1am 2am; even worked on Thaipusam day and still, I couldn’t finish what I should have finished.

Zara had really high fever last night, almost reaching 41degrees. Schools are the best places to pass on germs!
She was sweating profusely in her sleep one minute, and then another, she woke me up saying, “Mum, I’m very cold.”. True enough, her hands were cold and she was shivering.  I stayed up almost the whole night to watch over her, give her suppository, sponge her.

This morning when we asked if she was ok, and if we should bring her to see a doctor, she said “I’m feeling alright. I just feel very tired only.” How comforting to hear this.

Zaria woke up with a slight temparature too. Sigh! What bad timing, as I’ll be away for a week for work, and I’ll be worried about them. Tonight, Daddy will be looking after Zara, while Jelly will look after Zaria.

While I was packing, there was a thunderstorm, and Zara was accompanying me.
“Mummy, I don’t want you to go Japan.”
“Mummy has to, mummy’s boss wants to meet with mummy.” (can’t say ‘work’ because she told me I could work at home)
“Mummy, I want you to play with me.”
“Mummy will play with you when mummy comes back ok?”
Then there was a loud thunder, and she said, “Mum, you hear or not? Even the thunder don’t want you to go! See. Mummy, don’t go mummy.”

Wait till the girls are bigger, and both are able to say such things! *sigh*

Hope they will get well soon, and Daddy will take good care of them.

See what we got in the mails the last 2 months.

♥For Zara♥

A beautiful hand made dress from Jesslyn.

A sexy dress/top with crocheted word “Zara” from someone who doesn’t want to be named (just in case everybody ask her to do one for them).

♥For Myself♥

A practical bag holder from DR.

And a set of Dove items with a tote (which I gave them to Jelly, since I don’t think I’ll ever use them) and a t-shirt from Dove (which says, “Be yourself. Be Beutiful.”) that I like very much, for writing this; all the way from US.

And also greeting cards from May and Hui Sia!

Thanks! Thanks! Thanks! ♥Muaks♥

It’s getting really interesting with Zaria, who starts to say words here and there based on her understanding of things and her perception of the world.

She calls a banana, Nana
Any type of fruits besides banana to her is Ah-Per (as in Apple).

A cat to her is, Cat (evolved from AO).
A duck to her is Duck duck
Any other furry animals besides a cat is Eh-bit (as in Rabbit).
Any flying creatures, birds, bugs is Bird bird

She calls every body except Jelly.
Zawa or Jeh-jeh for Zara
Papa for Daddy
Mummy for me
Kakak for Tuyam
Yeh-Yeh for FIL
Ah-Ter for older looking men and Kor kor for younger looking boys.
Bay-Bee for toddlers and babies.
And she calls herself “Meh-mei” for Mei-mei

When she wants milk, she calls for me, “Mummy” (signs milk) and says “Milk”(yes, perfect sounding), then she’ll proceed to lie down on the bed or point to the sofa where I normally feed her.
After feeding, she likes to press on my breast and cheekily says, “Pee Peet” while flashing a smile.

She knows when to use Please. E.g.
Request for biscuit, “Ker Ker (Biscuit), (points to the biscuit, and then to her palm which is “more” or “want” sign) “Pis”
Wants me to get her the doll, “Doh Doh! (points to the doll, and then to her palm) Pis.”
Wants to go some where, “Go (points to the location), pis.”

She likes to stroke people and says “Ah Yang” (Sayang, Malay : Pat lovingly).
She likes to be held and walk about now, she says “Walk walk” and holds out her hand to be assisted.
She answers “K” for OK or Yes. E.g. “Zaria wants to go upstairs”; she’ll answer “K” and smiles.
She says NO by either saying “No” or makes the sound “Ugh!” while frowning.

Once we saw Zara snatching a toy from Zaria, while saying “This is Jiejie’s!” and Zaria shouted back, “Meh-Mei!” .
Another time, Zara tried to replace a toy Zaria was holding with something less interesting, and Zaria shouted, “No!”. Zara replied with a “Yes”. And Zaria responded with another “No!”. It was cute seeing them talk to each other like that (Maybe it won’t be so cute any more when the real verbal fight begins).
Then today, when Daddy showed her his pair of socks next to hers, and said, “Zaria, see, Daddy’s socks so BIG.”. Instead, Zaria smiled and pointed at him “BIIIIG Papa!”

I asked Daddy if these were a fluke shot, but Daddy said it can’t be, based on the way she interacts and communicate with us. She is doing as well as her sister in terms of language development at 1 year old. Fun!

I took half day off and sent Zara to her kindergarten today.

I was expecting a little reluctance, or maybe whining, or even some crying when I left her in her class.

She surprised me again. She just said her bye bye, joined in, blended in, and didn’t ask for me. Half the children around her were crying and clinging on to their mummies or daddies, and my little girl didn’t even look out the classroom to see if I was waiting for her there.

I sneaked out to the bank, and came back and class has been dismissed earlier than scheduled. I was a bit worried, and was trying to locate a crying face but I found Zara happily playing in the play ground. When I told her I need to go to the office to settle her fees, she said she would stay outside and play.

My, has she grown up!

Zara’s first day of school and no hic-ups. I’m so proud of my girl. 😀

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On the other hand, Zaria at home was missing me. According to the maid, she was whiney, crying a bit and kept saying “Maaaameeee Maaaameee”, looking for me.

My two girls rarely fall ill. *Touch wood*. Even if they did, they normally recover really quick, from a cough, a fever or a tummy upset.

But then this month, one week after Zaria, it was her turn.

For 3 nights, she had fever as high as 39, and I had to wake up middle of the night to sponge her, check on her, and even gave her suppository twice. She was rather happy with all the attention I’m channelling to her. However, I was drained.

Now that their fevers have gone, both girls are coughing, although Zaria’s not as severe as Zara’s.

Sometimes, when she gets a bit upset with all the medicine drinking, she asked if she could have the bum-bum medicine instead, thinking the suppository can cure all. o.O”

~~~~~~~~~~~

By the way, do you read the label on those medicine they give to kids? I saw Paraben in Zara’s cough mixture, something we don’t want in our skin care and toileteries (most organic skin care and toileteries claimed they are without) now found in their oral medicine? Scarry.

I think I’ll go boil her favourite dessert, birdnest, instead.

Malaika’s mummy tagged me couple of weeks ago, asking if I spare the rod when disciplining my girls.

I don’t own a cane at home and I try not to smack Zara. However, at times when she really pushes me to the limit, I will smack her on the buttocks; E.g. the time when she pinned Zaria to the ground when Zaria tried to reach for a toy she’s holding; or when she broke an item in the house even though I’d repeatedly told her not to touch it.

Most of the time, when she’s misbehaving, I’ll put her in the naughty corner, set the timer, and told her she can only get out when the timer alarm goes off. Sometimes, she will even go there on her own when she knows she’s done something wrong.

Last 2 days, she really drove me up the walls. Not so about her behaviour, but the way she talked back. When we told her off for some mischief she’s done, she said something like this, “Hush!” “I don’t want to talk about it, ok?”, then turned her head to face the opposite side.

Then yesterday, when she lifted her dress in a busy shopping mall, and later pulled down her dress so that her body was in full view of passer by, both Daddy and I told her, “Zara, that’s not a very nice thing to do in public ok? You are a girl, please don’t show people your underwear or your body like that.” She sulked big time, refusing to hold my hand when we walked to the car. Didn’t want to sit on her car seat on our journey home, folded her arms and faced the car door throughout.

I tried to coax her, by saying she’s our daughter, and we were only saying that so she knew right from wrong. She replied, “I’m not your daughter. Zaria is your daughter. I am kakak’s daughter.”

Daddy said she must be tired (she didn’t nap the whole day) and becoming irrational. I tried to coax her still, by offering my hand for her to hold, by saying, “Come on, lets give each other a hug”. I must be in one of my more ‘zen’ state, because when she scratched my hand twice, and then slapped my face, I didn’t smack her. I issued my last statement, “We are a family, so please don’t behave like that, ok?” She pointed at me, daring me, and she said these slowly, “You   and   I   are   not   family!”

That’s it. I walked away. Very very upset (actually I was really hurt!). That was when she cried and shouted, “I WANT MUMMY!” “MUMMY I’M SORRY!….WAAAAH” And tried to hug me and not let me go.

Daddy said I shouldn’t take it too personally, she’s only 3 year old, and she is just like me, when I’m tired, I like to use words to retaliate which I later regret.

This is The Look she gives, when she talks back

Does your child do that to you? What would you have done if you were me? Should I invest in a cane now?

Ever have your children ‘interfering’ in a fight/quarrel debate you have with your spouse?

As Zara grows older, she becomes more ‘involved’ in the adults’ conversations and tries to include her opinion of things.

Sometimes, we speak in Cantonse so that she won’t understand and she will remain quiet; but when the discussion becomes a bit too out of hand heated, she’ll say, “Shhh.. Shhhhh Daddy.. Shhhh Mummy.” she actually helps to clear the tension that’s building in our conversation, and helps straighten my knotted brows.

Last week, the below happened :

Daddy was angry with some small fault of Jelly, our Filipino maid. He was giving a lecture to Jelly over dinner, and I was getting a bit annoyed (dinner time in the house always ended up being a time he reprimands the maids).
Me : “Next time I’m going to have my dinner earlier before you come home. So stress eating dinner like that.”
Daddy : “So, you think I should just shut up is it?”
Zara : *matter-of-fact-ly* “Yah, Daddy. I think you should shut up and just eat your dinner.”
Daddy : *jaw dropped for a moment* “Oh, Zara, please don’t get involved in this.”
Mummy : *stiffling a giggle* “See, your daugther also tells you to just eat your dinner.”
We never used “shut up” on her before, so I guess, she doesn’t know the ‘seriousness’ of the phrase at all. She probably thought Daddy was yakking too much, and ought to stop and have his dinner.  😛

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Can’t remember what I did, and Daddy made the remark.
Daddy : “Are you nuts or what?”
Zara : *Quickly went over to Daddy and told him*“No no no. Mummy is not nuts. Daddy is nuts!”
I was stiffling a laugh, thinking to myself, that’s really sweet of her to defend me.
Zara : *added* “Daddy is Nuts. Mummy is Bread.”
Me : Huh? (now, it doesn’t make sense)
Zara : *continued* “Daddy likes to eat nuts ma, so Daddy is nuts. Mummy likes to eat bread, so mummy is Bread.”
Me : *roll eyes*
Still, Daddy is nuts, not me, that’s the important point.  😛

Yesterday was Zara’s actual birthday! I was meant to post this up yesterday but in the evening,  we brought her out for ice cream to celebrate and when we got home, it was “Mummy-finished-work-already-so-play-and-read-to-me” time for the 2 girls.

The girl is 3 years old now. See how she’d evolved :

Mummy and Daddy both love you very much! You are indeed very precious to us!
We may not be able to spend as much time with you now as before, but don’t think that with Mei-mei’s arrival, we love you any less.