Zaria had this cough that has been going on for a few months. Many GP and paed trips, many bottles of Augmentine later, it got well for a few weeks and then back again. Lately, when she coughs, it’s as though there’s a lot of flam in her lungs.

I took off to bring her to see an ENT or a chest physician. When I arrived at the hospital, I was told for her age, it’s not recommended to see an ENT or chest physician instead she should be seen by a paed. As her regular paed was on leave, I let another paed see her.

After hearing her lungs, the paed said, “Her lungs are crappy.”
CRAP! That was my reaction.
Apparently, it’s crepitation. The lungs may be infected (flam caused), causing this ‘crappy’ sound in her lungs.
That explains her on off fever of 38 degrees and above, her cough with the sound of flam.
When the doctor told me she either has to 1) be admitted and go on IV-antibiotic or 2) be treated at home but any worse and she should be brought in again, I felt as though my heart was sliced.

She has been prescribed with Singulair, Zithromax and other cough mixtures.

Is this really very serious? Should I trust this new paed?

So I went to see our regular GP in the night, and showed him the med the paed recommended. He listened to Zaria’s lung and said the same thing. The lungs are crappy (is this the right term?), and the med prescribed should all help her.

Am I satisfied with what the GP said? No. This morning, I brought her to see a Chest Paed recommended by Mom2Ashley.

It seemed it’s quite common these days in kids her age. Just stick to the medicine, and it should work in 5 days. The Paed claimed Zaria has quite a lot of dust in her nostrils too, so he recommended that we change our bed sheets and wash our aircon filter every week, and also get rid of the rugs in the house.

When should I be worried?
If only she became breathless or develop a high grade fever.

So at least tonight, I’ll sleep in peace.

As a mother, I wish that her disease became mine, so that at least I know for myself if it’s serious or not; and I could suffer her pain or discomfort.

Caught her falling asleep after the trip to the chest pead

As for Zara, her rash has gone away after a week; a week of skin recovering; and then it got very dry and itchy; so much so that she scratched until it scarred. I finally succumbed to steroid cream.

I pray all these crappiness will go away soon.

“Ohh KAY” That’s how Zaria says her ok, she emphasises the KAY, and say it with a lot of authority.

We went passed a barber, and Daddy jokingly said, “Come, I bring you go in to cut your hair botak.”
Zaria’s reply, “I don’t want to cut botak, I want to cut bootiful, Ohh KAY?”

We had dinner with the in-laws, after dinner Zaria wanted Daddy to carry her. Daddy pretended, “Daddy very tired, can Yeh-yeh or Mah-mah carry you?”
Zaria’s reply, “They carry, I (will) vomit, OUURK *vomit sound*, Ohh KAY?”

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Lately, don’t know why she’s becoming a tyrant, especially to children around her age or those younger than her.

When we met our neighbour with her 1 year + daughter, Abby, I asked her to go play with Abby, and her reply, “I (will) beat her.” o.O”

Yesterday when Leena came with Shern to collect the cot I was selling, I asked Zaria to say hi to Shern, she replied, “I (will) kick the boy.” o.O”

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She recently calls me by my name, adding Mummy in front, “Mummy Ehk-nes.” Especially when she didn’t get a response from me when she just calls me “Mummy.”
I.e. “Mummy…” ….. (no reply) “MumMY Ehk-nes!! MumMY Ehk-nes!!” until I reply.

And she likes to interupt participate when we’re talking.
“Mummy, sooosh..” “Soosh, don’t talk.” “Mummy Ehk-nes, don’t talk, ohh KAY?”

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That day, Zara did something wrong, and I asked her to say sorry to me.
Zara said it irritably, “Sorry Mummy.”
Zaria corrected her, “When say sorry, must say nicely, like this (in a small sweet voice) Sorry mummy. ohh KAY cheh?” o.O”

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We saw a lady who was wearing a black burqa in the clinic, and Zaria immediately pointed at the lady and shouted, “Mummy, why the auntie wearing mask?” Loud enough for the whole clinic to hear. o.O”

Girls’ conversation About Penis

Zaria : Daddy is not a girl you know.
Zaria : He has no petpet.
Zaria : He got penis at the petpet there.

Zara : You know when boys go to she-she, they must hold the penis to she-she.
Zara : If not, right, the penis will swing here swing there, and the she-she will spray every where.

Zaria talking to Jelly About fierce Mummy
Zaria : Mummy always scold me you know
Zaria : Always shout at me. So loud!
Jelly : Your mummy got smack you or not.
Zaria : Nooooo.. she didn’t smack me.
(haha.. at least I’m not that bad)
Zaria : She shoot me only.
o.O”
(OK, I’m the bad guy at home)

On Working From Home
(This conversation with Zara’s friend took place in Zara’s school, Zaria’s friend, WY, cannot understand why someone can work from home)

WY : You don’t tell your mummy ya..
WY : *whisper* *whisper*
Zara : *loudly* Aigh. I told you before right, my mummy works at home.
Me : What did WY ask you?
Zara : She asked me why you wear like that to go to work.
(I was wearing shorts and t-shirt)
WY : *facing me* What work you do? Why work from home one? My mummy have to work in office.
Me : Hmm.. It’s special for me, that’s why I can work at home.

Another day, when I went to pick the girls up, WY came to me again.
WY : Who do you work for huh?
Me : Hmm.. (trying to find an answer where a 5yr old can understand).. My boss lor.
WY : Oh.. (asthough she understood finally) Your boss goes to your house ah?

Hehe.. I think it’s tough for children who have parents working in the ‘office’ understand the concept of working from home.

Thanks for all your well wishes and concerns.

The cool cat, Zaria is in action right after the stint at the dentist.

She only complained on the same night during milk drinking time that her ‘mouth’ was painful, and refused to drink milk, besides this, she was normal, and so was her jiejie, Zara. The normal, rough self, which began her pushing and shoving soon afterwards. Kids, they forget so easily!

I had to warn Zara that if I saw her being rough to Zaria again, I will have to send her to my sis’ place for a week to separate the two of them, just in case anything happened to the Zaria’s already loose tooth. That kept her being careful.

Zaria’s mouth was still slightly bloody on Sunday and her upper lip puffy, but since Monday, I could see the gum had started healing, and the bleeding stopped. Besides the slightly chipped tooth, and the black thread still tying on the tooth, you really can’t tell she had a bad fall.

Photo taken in the evening of last Saturday, after the incident. You can see the blood stain at the corner of her mouth.

Tomorrow, she’ll be going to get the dentist to check on her again and to remove the black thread.

It’s a working day for me today. The girls were playing in the morning, when Daddy was at the wet market and Jelly was doing house work.

45mins into my conference call, I heard crying downstairs, Zaria first, followed by Zara. Then Zara came up and she sobbed while she told me, “Mummy, I pushed Zaria and she fell down, her mouth got blood.”. I thought, maybe Zaria’s lip was cut; as I was hosting the meeting, I had to get someone to replace me, before I could go check on Zaria. While I was trying to do that, Jelly came and told me, “Mum, Zaria’s teeth came off.”

Oh shit!

I quickly updated my colleague on the emergency, and checked on Zaria. One of her upper teeth has been pushed into the gums, just a tiny bit still ‘exposed’, with blood dripping down her chin. Zaria didn’t cry, but just said, “Jiejie pushed me, got so much blood you know.”.

My heart almost stopped seeing the bloody gums. And imagine my rage towards Zara. I was scolding her while comforting Zaria, and even gave her a few smacks on the buttocks. I told her police may want to investigate the case, she better had her bags packed because she might need to stay in the police station for investigation. (I’m bad, I know. Really really mean. To think back now, it doesn’t help with me aggravating the situation.)

After I found someone to be my back up, I went downstairs to get ready to bring Zaria to a nearby dentist. Zara had already taken a bag downstairs and a few pieces of her clothing. I felt sorry for her but I was still angry so I didn’t comfort her.

Daddy got back just in time to go to the dentist together.

At the dentist, I was shaking when the dentist checked on Zaria. As I was sighing a lot and kept uttering “Aiyo..” The dentist told me to have Daddy hold Zaria instead while she carried out the procedure. She said my anxiety may affect Zaria. This was what she did, first, rubbed some gel to numb Zaria’s gum, then she put local anesthetic, and then she pulled the tooth out to its original position and use a thread to tie it around the tooth and other teeth to hold its position, and hope the cells around her gum will grow and grip the tooth back. It may or may not be successful, and Zaria may have a slow growth in her 2nd set of tooth, due to the impact.

Zara and I were peeping from the outside; When I saw the big syringe taken out to inject the local anesthetic on Zaria’s gum, I almost cried. Zara was still sobbing, feeling afraid and sorry.

Zaria was a tough cookie. She didn’t cry and was very cooperative. The dentist was quite good too, she gave Zaria a pair of sunglasses, spoke calmly to her, and when she had to inject the anesthetic, or pull the tooth out, she used her other hand to cover Zaria’s eyes, so she can’t really see what was being done to her.

After everything was done, Zara said, “Luckily the dentist fixed the tooth, I don’t have to go to the police station now.” o.O”

I just hope the tooth is really fixed, and Zara will learn from the lesson of not being too rough to Zaria.

Zara’s crying phase is over and she hardly ever cries when she’s angry or upset. She may sulk, or go to a quiet corner, just to show us she’s upset, or, she will use word power.

Once I was upset with the girls for not cooperating to get into their respective car seats when we were done with shopping, I shouted at them. “GET INTO THE CAR NOW!!!”

Zara who was being playful, and wriggling about was stunt for a moment, but obediently climbed up to her car seat. After a while, she made the “Hmph!” sounds a few times, audible enough for me. When I didn’t respond to that, she said angrily, “Just now you want to tear down the ceiling?? Your voice is (was) so irritating you know?” o.O”

As for Zaria, I don’t know where she learnt it, but everytime when she’s angry with someone who tells her not do something, she’ll say “I don’t want you!” or “I don’t like you any more.” and lately, “I don’t want to friend you already.” o.O”

Of course, her trump card (or she thinks) is to cry! Loud wailing accompanied with big drops of tears. For someone who speaks softly most of the time, her crying is extremely loud! o.O”

Zaria’s favourite phrase now is “Why not?”

Zara : Zaria, don’t colour on jiejie’s book.
Zaria : “Why not?”

While I’m working,
Zaria : Mummy, I want to sit on your lap.
Me : No, mummy is working.
Zaria : “Why not?”

Daddy : This is your last chocolate already, you cannot have any more.
Zaria : “Why not?”

o.O”

Zaria was digging out books from the shelf in the study, and have those books strewn all over the floor. Before she went down stairs (and out of the room), I told her, “Zaria, you took the books out and scattered them on the floor, you must clean up before you go downstairs.
“I’m not jiejie, ok.” She replied while walking out of the room.

o.O”
(and it’s the case in the house, Zara will clean and tidy up but Zaria always ‘designate’ to Jelly or just refused by saying “I cannot.”).

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Yesterday, just out of the blue, Zara said, “Mum, I don’t like my name you know. Why do you call me Zara?”
Me : *a bit surprised* “Zara is a beautiful name, why don’t you like it?”
Zara : “I want a name with feelings.”
o.O” Can some one please tell me what is a name with feelings?
Me : “What do you mean a name with feelings? What kind of names would you like to be called”
Zara : “How about Shanika?”
o.O” Where did she get that name from? Anybody knows if any princesses in Disney or Barbie show which is called Shanika?

There are more to come on the Japan trip, however, here are some short ones not on Japan :

Now have you heard about goreng pisang seller putting straws into the oil to make whatever they are frying crunchier? Do you believe it? I didn’t until last week.

Zara and Zaria love Keropok lekor, so sometimes I stopped by this stall to buy some for them. Last week, I parked right in front of the stall, and after getting some, I was busy passing the keropok to the girls, wrapping the bottom with tissue first where the girls could hold.
I saw the seller pouring oil into the wok. You know those cheap oil in plastic bags?
After the bag was empty, I saw her dipped the plastic bag into the oil. That caught my attention, and I stopped what I was doing, sat upright and watched again, the corner of the bag where she dipped into the oil had actually melted. I thought that’s the end, and then she dipped the bag further, melting the rest of it in the hot oil, leaving only the corner which she was still holding on. And the smirk on her face, as though she was enjoying poisoning the oil.
I didn’t look further, I quickly took back the keropok where I’d given to the girls drove off, swearing never to buy again.
I’m not sure if only that stall is doing it, or all stalls do it, but really…. BUEK!!

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Now for something nicer…

We always go to the wet market on Saturday with Zara. It was drizzling last Saturday, so I told Zara she should stay at home. She kept saying she wanted to follow, but I insisted she shouldn’t.
Zara then said “I waited for you for so long already, now you want me to wait for you again?”
I didn’t know what she was saying, “I don’t know what you mean you waited for me for so long. When did you wait for me?”
Zara replied, “You went to Japan for so long right? I waited for you for so long to come back.” Ouch!

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After one of their fights, Zaria came to complain, “I don’t like Zara any more.”
“Mummy send Zara (to) ah Kim’s house” o.O”
To her, Ah Kim’s house must be like a torture chamber.

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I asked Zaria, “Tonight should we watch Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire?”
Zaria replied, “The boy got a lot of blood one?”
I didn’t get it the first time, so I asked, “Why got blood?”
She said, “Because, the boy (Harry) got-blood of fire.” o.O”

My 2 years old

Zaria was naughty so I asked her to stand at the naughty corner, she was only allowed to leave when the timer went off (I normally set a timer on how long the girls have to stand at the naughty corner.)

Before the timer went off, Zaria went back to the play room.
I went after her, “Why are you not standing at the naughty corner? The alarm hasn’t sounded yet.”
She replied, “My leg is itchy.”
I told her, “Itchy also must stand. Go!”
Since itchy didn’t work, she tried again, “My leg is painful now.”
Trying to stifle a smile, I told her, “Painful also must stand! Until the alarm goes off. Go!”
She looked at me with puppy eyes, thinking I will give in, “My leg is very painful you know.”
A punishment is a punishment, I tried to hold on to my stern face, “Very painful also must go.”
She knew she lost the battle, she walked back to the naughty corner and stood until the timer went off.

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My 4yrs old

Zara had “Colour Carnival” day at school, and she wanted to wear her ‘party’ dress to school.
I told her they would be getting wet and paint all over so she should just wear a t-shirt and pants to school.
She said she won’t get wet and paint all over and she would be careful in her party dress.
I told her it’s “Colour Carnival” and she’s supposed to get paint and wet. The teachers would even do face painting or body painting for them.

She was upset because she could not wear her party dress, so she complained, “Do you know there’s chemical in paint? And you want the teacher to paint on me? After the chemical get into my blood then how?” o.O”

Anybody needs defend lawyers? You know who to call.

Just came back from a 2 weeks work trip in Japan.

Zara greeted me with lips like these :

Apparently, she peeled some dead skins from her lips but got so carried away, some flesh got peeled off as well, they were bleeding quite badly, and now started to heal, but still look quite bad.
Me : “What happened to you?? Why did you peel the skins off your lips?”
Zara : “Because you were not here for so long, so I became silly!” o.O”

As for Zaria, she showered me with kisses, and kept stroking me (my hand, cheeks).
She kept asking, “You come back already mummy?”
And then kept saying, “I like you, you know, mummy?” “I love you, you know, mummy?”

During these 2 weeks I was away, Daddy was away 1 week in Japan too, we had to send the girls and Jelly to my bro’s place during that 1 week when both of us were not home.
Today, when we said we’ll drop by my bro’s place today to pass them chocholate & green tea, Zaria got worried.
She asked “We’re going Ah Kim’s (Chinese : Auntie) house?”
I said yes.
She asked “Why we go Ah Kim’s house? My house is ok wut?” (Probably thinking we’re sending her over to stay again.)
Then asked again, “Are you coming with me?”
Only after reassuring her that we’re just dropping things off, she’s not going to ‘sleep’ there, then, she stopped her questioning.

As for Jelly, she was quick to bring out the laundry hamper (ours is actually a basket) when she saw me opening my suitcase; she knew there’ll be a fair bit of washing to do.