Zara is 21mths today, 3 more months till she’s 2yrs old (oh boy, have to start planning for her birthday party).

~ Weight should be more than 9.7kg (didn’t weigh her this month)
~ Height : 83cm
~ No new teeth sprouting. She has a total of 16 teeth.

Dexterity :
~ Climbing up stairs without holding on to anything, however, we asked her to at least use the wall to support her, just in case.
~ Able to rinse her mouth and spit out, even moving her cheek to do a through rinse.
~ Able to draw circles (although not perfect).
~ Climbing up ladders in the park unassisted.
~ Able to put on her pants with some help.

Language :
~ She can sing and recite some nursery rhymes from beginning till the end.
~ Her reasoning skill is getting very good.
~ She’s learning new words very quickly, and the correct usage of them.
~ She’s able to sing along with most of the songs she has on CD, VCD and DVD, for words she’s not sure, she’ll just mumble something to the tune.

(and lots more which I’d captured in some of the posts)

Feeding and Food:
3 meals and 3 milk feeds a day. Eats a lot of snacks in between,

Her current favourite junk food is chocolate ice cream (she only fancies chocolate flavour and nothing else), which I have to keep a tub in the freezer all the time.

She only wants to have egg and cheese these days for breakfast and lunch.
And for dinner, as long there’s a fish or an egg dish, she’s fine.

She refuses most leafy vege (just suddenly), preferring only beans (long beans, peas). Luckily she takes lots of fruits or she won’t have enough fiber intake.

Emotions :
~ Officially weaned off thumb sucking.
~ Extremely clingy nowadays, probably feels threatened by my growing stomach and the coming baby.
~ Showing preference to which kid she likes to play with in the park, she only likes to ‘hang around’ this particular girl, who’s 8mths older than her.
~ Very affectionate, giving everybody lots of hugs and kisses, and saying “I love you” to Daddy and me.
~ Very emotional, especially when she sees animals in distressed (mummy not in the same league as the animals).

She started showing interest in stacking blocks, and looks like she’s doing quite ok. She was occupied with this for quite a while, leaving Tuyam enough time to wash the dishes and her milk bottles. She was so patient, every time the ‘tower’ toppled, she just restack them, and she refused to let me help her.

In the evening, while Tuyam folded the day’s laundry. She picked up her favourite pants, and started trying to put on. She’s doing quite well here, but still don’t know how to handle the back, exposing her diaper. She repeated this a few times, taking it off, putting it back on.

When it’s time to go to the park and I told her no long pants should be worn. She quickly changed to her shorts.

If she gets better.. she may be able to help change the baby in future. Hee hee.

My little girl is turning into a lawyer buruk (Malay : a mediocre lawyer) these days. She’s learning to negotiate, giving instructions, recalling events.

Tuyam was having tooth ache and she complained to Zara hoping to get some sympathy and hence obedience from her.
Tuyam : Zara, kakak teeth pain pain.
Zara : *not empathetic* Because kakak never brush teeth!

She’s been very clingy and prefers me to bath her, even in the morning (which is all done by Tuyam during weekdays).
Tuyam : Zara, come take bath.
Zara : Don’t want kakak bath Zara. Kakak go hang tothes (clothes). Mummy bath bath Zara.
Tuyam : Mummy need to work. Kakak finished hang clothes.
Zara : Kakak bath bath Rusty then (Rusty is our cat). Take off Rusty diaper and baju.
Tuyam : Rusty got wear diaper and baju meh?
Zara : Take off Rusty collar then.
I just watched her in amazement, smiling to myself, taking in her ‘argument’.

She shouted for me at 5:30pm, asking me to bring her to the park.
Me : Mummy not yet finish work. Later ok, one more hour, then mummy come down and bring you to the park.
Zara : Mummy work work first yeah. After bring Zara to ship park (she always refers to our park as Ship park). Kakak cooking cooking at home. Then mummy bring you (me) to see snails (on our way back, we sometimes get to see snails). Then bath bath with you (me). Then makan (Malay : meal) time!

And every day before we leave the house for the park, Zara will say bye bye to Tuyam and add this, “Kakak cook nice nice mum mum (referring to her dinner) yeah?”

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*

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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.

Had my amnio test done yesterday morning.

I went in feeling very nervous. I guess the Dr saw my pale face and reassured me everything will be fine by patting on my arm.

After identifying the spot which was a safe distance away from the baby via ultrasound, Dr immediately sterilized his hands and my tummy area with alcohol and started the procedure.

During Zara’s time, I was so afraid I just closed my eyes the entire time until the Dr told me it’s over. This round, I chose to watch the entire procedure. I saw the Dr deftly inserted the long needle into my abdomen, the strange thing is, there was no pain. Not even a sting or an ant bite feeling (with Zara, there was at least a ant bite sting). With the Dr holding on to the ultrasound scanner and the needle to ensure the baby is at a safe distant, the nurse started extracting the amnio fluid into a tube. It was yellowish in colour, like urine.

I was concentrating on the amount of fluid extracted, and suddenly heard the Dr said, “Oops, baby has moved”. I turned my attention to the monitor. I could see the baby’s hands reaching out to the needle. Yes, the little one was reaching out his/her hands for the needle! The Dr maneuvered the needle a bit so that the baby could not touch the sharp end which then stopped the amnio fluid from flowing into the collection tube. So it took longer for the desired amount of fluid to be extracted with the baby being so ‘busy body’ trying to touch the needle every time it was inserted back to the amnio sac.

When the right amount of fluid was collected, the Dr took the needle out, and did another scan on my stomach to show that baby is ok, heart beating etc. I could still see the baby’s hands reaching out towards the direction of where the needle was. 10 little fingers all stretched out. What a sight!

When we got home, I showed Zara the plaster on my tummy, and told her I won’t be able to carry her, or bring her to the park these few days. I also told her to be careful when she’s around me, no pressing on my stomach or jumping on me or ‘blood will come out’. She has been trying to refrain herself from doing all these.

We now have to wait 2.5 to 3 weeks for the result.

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And here are the things Zara did over the weekend.

Swimming! She’s staying afloat on her own for longer period of time now!

After 3 weeks of not sucking her thumb, we took out her ‘present’ for her. She had a good time slowly unwrapping the present, then immediately making use of the paint to do some finger painting on paper as well as on the toilet wall.

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..

We spent most of Sunday in the resort itself.

After a sumptuous breakfast, when we brought Zara to the beach, we saw horses available for hire. Zara was very interested, and said, “Want to sit horsey!” When I asked if she was going to ride on her own, she said, “Mummy sit with you (me).” So I went with Zara. It was just a stroll on the beach, with the horse handler guiding the horse on the leash.

She really enjoyed herself, patting the horse on and off, and kept saying, “Zara so happy.” When we got back, she thanked the horse and patted it. The horse handler mentioned she’s very brave because most young kids would have been quite fearful of the height while being on the horse, and the size of the horse.

Zara and mummy on the horse; Zara patting the horse to thank it; Zara running about and playing in the resort compound.

For late lunch, headed to town for Sisters’ char kuey teow in Macalister Road. Zara was tired and dopey, and only had some prawn fritters from the lobak stall. Then it was a wasted trip to Komtar. Our intention was to get more DVDs (as we got some really good quality foreign film there on our last trip), but because of the raid, the shops were closed, so we left empty handed.

Late in the evening, we brought Zara for a swim. The water was icy cold and even though she was shivering, she refused to get out. She didn’t want to leave until she was able to lie in the water and float, and got some applause from two Middle Eastern men watching. She was so proud, and kept telling us later, “Zara so clever to swim. Uncle Bravo Zara.”

For dinner, it was again to Nonya Breeze. This time, it was 4 dishes (fish, prawns, vege, egg), 1 duck soup, 1 nasi kerabu, 3 drinks, and the bill was less than RM50.

On Monday morning, Zara wanted horsey ride again. This time, the handler told us he would bring us further, but when we were heading back, Zara asked to get down, she was complaining, “Bum bum pain pain.” from the long ride.

Zara patting the horse while on it; Happy to be on the ground again because her bum was hurting; Back up the horse alone for a photo shoot; Thanking the horse and saying good bye.

We then had to check out and move to Equatorial Hotel (as it was nearer for Daddy to get to Prai for work). Daddy headed off to work after dropping us off. Zara and I had a slow leisurely buffet lunch, all she had was some almond flakes and a scoop of ice cream when mummy pigged out.

Back in the room, I had the TV on for her (Tom & Jerry was on) while I washed her bottle in the toilet. Suddenly, I heard her crying outside, I rushed out to check on her, “what happened?”. She just pointed to the TV and said, “Cat cat so naughty. Make puppy cry!” And tears started pouring down again. My gosh, she was crying over the scene where Tom woke up a puppy from its sleep (and it started yelping) while chasing after Jerry. No more Tom & Jerry, since it got her so emotional.

Evening was swimming again, and this time, another achievement from her, she could actually let go off my hand, and paddle on her own (with arm floats of course) for a few seconds.

That night, we just had dinner in the hotel as we were too lazy to go out (and don’t know where to go).

My morning sunshine.

Tuesday, Daddy left early in the morning. I brought Zara for breakfast, then a swim, and then we had to check out (bloody hotel wouldn’t let us have late check out!). Spent the next few hours loitering in the hotel, and also in Bukit Jambul mall while we waited for Daddy to pick us up after work.

To get to Bukit Jambul mall, we had to take a cab there, and Zara refused to get on the cab. She actually pushed the door shut while I tried to get her in, she said, “Want to sit only mummy’s car. Don’t want this car.” Such a fussy girl.

Even though it’s a bit tiring for me to handle her alone (esp lugging the bag containing her water, biscuit, Mr Blue, and our gigantic camera etc; and sometimes having to carry her to walk up and down stairs, with the stroller strapped around my shoulder), Zara was a good girl, and it was very easy to take care of her. Most of the time, she just let me push her about in the stroller, and she kept occupied by singing and reciting nursery rhymes to herself.

Daddy came to pick us up from the mall at about 5pm (since no cab wanted to take us back to the hotel or asked for exorbitant price. I heard cabbies were on strike that day because they were supposed to start to run on meter that week), and we headed back to KL.

Daddy had to go up North for a work trip last 2 days. Since I am going to do my amnio test next Monday, I thought I’d followed him so we could stop by at St Anne’s to say a prayer before the test.

We arrived in Bukit Mertajam at about 3:30pm on Saturday, the feast day itself. The road leading to the church was closed so we have to walk. There were lots of hawkers lining the street, taking the opportunity to make some money from the event. Some were blasting loud music and songs which I thought was very disrespectful.

We said our prayer in the old church, and then spent some time showing Zara around although it was a terribly hot day. Zara was very interested in the various statues of Jesus and the Saints available, especially the scene of the crucifixion. We tried to explain to her what was happening in each scene in ways she could understand. After that, whenever she see her book on Jesus (which we brought along for the trip), she kept saying, “Jesus pain pain”. “Bad people beat beat Jesus”. “Put Jesus on the stick”.

Zara receiving flowers in the old church; Around the church; an ice cream treat for her.

We then headed to Penang island. We stopped by at Nonya Breeze, a restaurant we discovered on our last trip to Penang a year before, for an early dinner. The food at the restaurant was still very good and authentic, and for a dinner with fish, prawns, chicken, vege, dessert, 4 drinks, it only came out to RM41. Rosie, the restaurant owner, even threw in Zara’s dinner (which consist of a small fish fillet and a bowl of soup) for free. No way we can get this kind of deal and hospitality in KL.

We let her have some fun at the beech before dinner.

We stayed in Bayview Resort as our favourite hotel Lonepine was fully booked. The resort was filled holiday goers from the Middle East. Our room got upgraded, and we got a very big and comfortable sea view room. Zara just felt so right at home in the resort, she even walked about among the fully robed Middle Eastern ladies without a hint of curiosity or fear.

After taking a shower, we went out to the night market to get ourselves some DVDs. With the police on their toes, the shop that we visited (which was recommended by Domestic Rat) was pulling down the shutters to close up, and then reopening after they got the all clear sign, a few times. Daddy and Zara got ‘shut in’ on one occasion and Zara wailed when she couldn’t spot me around. Poor girl.

During bed time, since Daddy had to share a bed with Zara, Zara warned Daddy by waving her finger, “Daddy, cannot snore snore.”