♥Machine♥
I have a little machine at home. She switched to different machines according to her mood.
Some day she says she’s a toaster, and she says, “So I want to eat chemical bread*.” or when it’s bath time, “Toaster no need to take bath.”

Sometimes she’s just a machine. And when it’s time to brush teeth, she says, “I’m a machine. You must touch the right button, then my mouth will open.”
We have to pretend to touch something on her face/head, “Dee-Deet. I touch the open mouth button already. Can you open your mouth now?”
If the game ended here, she would open her mouth, if not, she’ll close her mouth even tighter then says, “You touched the wrong button, so now you must touch the righ one, after that I open my mouth.”

♥Mispronuncing words♥
Love the way she mispronounced certain words. I.e. Olivia, she said Oli-dia (she has seen then corrected herself).
Vanilla, she said Va-lilla.

She calls Maggie mee Mega Mee (just because she has been going to Mega Mall), and then she told me one day our High school musical chair (i.e CD) wasn’t working, it took me a few seconds to realise what she was talking about.

♥Understand♥
After the incident which caused a bump on Zara’s head. I told her I will only let her wear her click clock shoes when she turned 23.

On the day she turned 3, and after all of us wished her Happy Birthday. She proudly said, “I’m 3 years old now. Now can I wear my click clock shoes? Now I understand you already, because I’m big girl.”
When I asked her what she understood, she said, “Cannot throw click clock shoes at jiejie. See, I understand already.”
So the click clock shoe ban was lifted.

When I repeatedly asked her in a public toilet if she wanted to she-she (Chinese : urinate) since we were already there, she said, “You understand or not? Why I tell (told) you so many times I don’t want to she-she, you still asking me?”

When she had a fall, and I told her that’s because she was clumsy, she told me, “You understand or not? The door pushed my head (actually she knocked her head on the door and fell), that’s why I fall down.”

She’s extremely irritated when we don’t ‘understand’ her

♥Others♥
When Zara keeps disturbing her, she tells Zara off. “Jie, stop irritating me.”

She put a fork in her mouth, and started climbing from chair to chair. Daddy told her she can’t do that, she might accidentally swallow the fork and then we’ll need to bring her to the hospital to remove the fork from her throat, possibly having to cut her open her if the fork stuck too far deep. “You cannot cut open my stomach. After that my blood splatter on your face then you know.”

My, I’m so entertained by the things she says.

*I told the girls Gardenia and High5 breads are ‘chemical bread’, since I wanted the girls to eat homemade bread; and if you read the label, those bread do contain lots of chemical

We just came back from Bali (will post later) 2 days back, and girls were rather happy to be home after being away from home for 7 days.

Zaria fell ill in Bali, and everytime when it’s medication time, she will be running away from us and hiding with her mouth covered, and coming out with all kinds of excuses.

“I don’t want to eat medicine. It’s so bitter.”

“You give me too much medicine, now I got stomach ache.”

We walked a lot in Bali in the hot weather to see sights and shop. This afternoon, when we wanted to go out and buy lunch, we walked passed my car and out to the gate. Zaria immediately pointed to my car, “We must take the car.”
I immediately told Daddy in Chinese that she’s ‘scared’ of walking after Bali, so Daddy teased her, “We’re walking out to buy lunch.”
Zaria immediately whined, “No, we must take the car. I’m too tired to walk.”

While looking at the photos from Bali with my nieces and all (since we went together), I asked Zaria, “Do you miss playing with your cousins?”
Zaria’s reply, “No. I don’t miss them. They are always disturbing me, they are all so irritating.”
o.O”

On our way back from school, Zara told me, “Lin Jing and I are in love you know. But he’s going to marry Rachel. Sigh”
I asked, “How do you know he’s in love with you?”
“CL told me that, CL told me Lin Jing loves me, but he cannot get married with me. He can only marry Rachel.”
Love can be really complicated for a 5 year old.
o.O”

Last week, when I picked her up on the last day of school, smiling happily she showed me a heart shape magic wand Lin Jing gave her. “See, Ling Jing gave me this. He loves me.”
I asked her just out of curiosity, “He only gave that to you?”
“No, he gave all the girls one.”
“Huh? So he gave everyone?”
Defensively, she said, “He’s very kind you see. He knows girls like magic wand. So he gave all the girls one.”
o.O

In the car on our way back, she told me, “I’m so sad, after today, I won’t be seeing Lin Jing again.” Lin Jing is a year older, and he’ll be in Primary one next year, in another school.
Soon after, she added, “Never mind, I’ll find a new boy friend. Mickel will be my boy friend next year. Luckily I have a replacement.”
o.O”

Zaria is very chatty now, not many people see this part of her, since she’s rather quiet when there are other people around, but at home, this girl can talk.

The other day she asked me to help her to do her business. Normally what she needs is just some one to hold on to her hand while she sits on the (adult’s) throne, and then later help her wipe her buttocks. So I was in the toilet, holding her hand, and waiting for her. After a minute :
Zaria : My poo poo didn’t want to come out, want to stay inside my stomach.
Me : Never mind, you try, mummy will wait for you.
After a few more seconds,
Zaria : I think I must ‘pause‘ first.”
Me : (didn’t get her) Huh?
Zaria : I ‘pause‘ first. Later only poo poo.
o.O” (must have learnt from the pausing of her DVDs)

Later, we went to the mall, and she wanted to do her undone business. In the toilet :
Zaria : Now my poo poo want to come out already.
Me : OK.
Zaria : My poo poo is out. Can you smell it? o.O”
Me : Yah I know, it’s smelly.
Zaria : You can say ‘Eee Yoooo’ you know. o.O”
Me : (oblidging) Eee yooo… and are you done yet?
Zaria : Not yet, I want to shu-shu first. Because my poo poo want to swim in the shu-shu. o.O

She does has a funny sense of humour. 😛

Zaria on the other hand is speaking and communicating really well, she’s growing up to be quite fiery. She’s easy to get angry, and when she does get angry, she throws things, shouts, beats or scratches us. o.O”

Influenced by Zara, she tries to correct our English occasionally too.
One day I pointed a picture to her, “Mei look, so special this umbrella.”
She replied, “Don’t speak sloppy English, there’s no la in English.” o.O”

We were telling the girls about the trips Daddy and I used to take before they were born. When we went through the photos of our trip, Zaria started frowning, and she banged her fist on the album, “Why you didn’t bring me?” but then remembering, she brows straigtened and she added, “I not yet born? Oh.”

One evening, she came to me, “I love you mummy.” and kissed my lips.
“I love you too meimei.” I kissed her back.
She laid her head on my shoulder and a moment later, she remembered and asked, “If I naughty, you love me or not?” o.O”
I told her, although I don’t like it, I will still love her.
And she looked at me and said softly, “Sorry, mummy.”

One day after her nap, she wanted to get out of the room but the room door was close. Not able to get out, she started kicking the door, when I opened the door for her, she frowned and said, “I was trapped!”

That’s our Zaria, the fiery, spunky chilly padi

We see Zara growing up beautifully and we’re happy for her development. She speaks politely most of the time, using proper English, and she tries to influence people around her to do the same.

We were told in school, she will correct other children’s English, or manners. And she correct her music teacher’s English too, when the teacher uses ‘la’ or ‘ma’ in her instruction.
“Teacher, don’t speak sloppy English.”

She shows more interest in Mandarin now, and always asks me to speak to her in Mandarin. She will try to speak or reply in Mandarin, mixing in English words when she doesn’t know or forgot the word in Mandarin. E.g. “老师对不起，我没有做功课。因为我went out, 没有time做” (Sorry teacher, I didn’t do my homework because I went out and didn’t have time to do).
or “妈妈，我可以吃那个biscuit吗?” (Mummy, can I eat the biscuit?)

She’s becoming more mature in her thinking, i.e. She has been playing and walking our neighbour’s dog, and one day she came back and told me, “Mum, can you buy me a dog?”
I told her we’ll need to get a bigger house first, or else we won’t be able to accomodate a dog.
“Then from now on, you should not buy me any more things. Even if I deserved it.”
She said that way we can save more money to buy a bigger house.
When I asked her what about her birthday, she deserves a present, but should I get her one?
She replies, “No, my birthday is different, you must get me something. Maybe you draw me a card?”

She does her homework on her own after her nap daily, she puts back her things after using it. She’s doing well, really. She’s very honest even when she knows if she confessed something she may get punishment.

Of course, there are times she still snatch things from Zaria, or bully Zaria, but she always have her excuse (the same one), “I got a bit carried away.” o.O”

Her strength is defintely around the liguistic field.

Lately, I feel so tired all the time. Even with all the supplement I’m taking, and sleeping early, it’s still the same.

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

When I call Zaria Little One, she tells me, “I’m not little any more. I’m big girl already.”
When I ask her to do something on her own like clean up or yesterday, to wear her own socks before bed, she said, “I’m still a small girl. I cannot do myself.”

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

Every week, we get Zaria telling us :
“I love you mum.” one day; then another day “I don’t like you anymore” or “You are not my daddy any more.” or “I don’t friend you then you know”

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

One day when Zaria was super naughty, since there’s no cane in the house, I took hold of a paintbrush the size of a cane (in circumference not in length), and smacked Zaria.
Later, when it was Zara’s turn to be naughty, I threatened to use the same method on her, and she said, “You smack me with the paint brush, I’ll ask Aunty Jelly to call the police and catch you.”

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

I asked Zara who was her favourite aunt, Karen yi-yi, Teresa yi-yi (my sisters), ku-ma or Ah Kim Jenny (my SILs). She told me “I like Ah Kim the most.” When I asked why, she told me the reasons, “Because Ah Kim is the most rich” Then further added “And also because mei-mei doesn’t like her. If I don’t like her, then she’ll be very pitiful.”

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

I enrolled in a baking course ran by Taylors but last minute decided to pull out because my neighbor who’s done the course before told me it wasn’t worth the money. Zara was quite keen in me joining the class, so that I can bake big cheese pies for her and also nice cakes (that’s what she said). So I asked her, “Will you blame mummy if mummy didn’t go for the class?”
Like an adult she told me, “No, I won’t because it’s your property.”
Then continued, “You just learn from books then, and also watch TV to learn.”

When I picked Zara up from school, Ling Jing, the boy Zara likes, was there too waiting for his transport. When we got to the gate of the school, Zara told me to wait and turned back, “I need to go back and give Ling Jing a hug.” o.O”

In the car we had this conversation. It goes something like this :

Me : Why do you like Ling Jing so much?
Zara : Errr….. Because he’s a bit taller than me.
Me : Mikel (who was his dancing partner in her concert) is nice and quite good looking also, why don’t you like him?”
Zara : Mikel is not so tall ok. How can I marry some one shorter than me?
Me : Oh, you like someone tall. Then you should marry mummy’s boss. (my boss is very tall, fyi).
Zara : Your boss is too tall, his head is going to poke through my car. o.O”
Zara : And Mikel should marry Chi Ling, because their skin colour is the same. (both have darker tanned skin) o.O”
Me : Then why don’t you like Ze-Wen (another boy in her class)? He’s tall.
Zara : Do you know Ze-Wen has a problem?
Me : *o.O* What problem does he has? (I thought he has learning disability or something)
Zara : You know he’s only five years old and he’s so t-a-l-l, something is wrong? o.O”
Zara : Ling Jing’s height is perfect for me!
Me : Does Ling Jing speak well?
Zara : Ling Jing’s Chinese is very good.
Me : His English is not good?
Zara : His English is ok, he doesn’t speak sloppy English (at home when she uses lots of ‘lahs’ and ‘mahs’ and ‘wut’.. Daddy will say she’s speaking sloppy English)
Me : Is Ling Jing nice to you or not?
Zara : He’s very shy. You know, WY (her best girl friend in school) also likes Ling Jing. I have to see how to get rid of her. Maybe I’ll set a trap to catch her. o.O”

I don’t think she meant the last remark, because she said it while smiling.

One day we were talking about love.
Me : Do you think mummy love you more or mummy love meimei more?
Zara : I think you love me more, because I’m good girl and Zaria is very naughty
Me : No. Mummy love both of you the same. Because both of you are my daughters
Zara : I think I love you more than Daddy.
Me : But mummy always scold you.
Zara : *reassuringly*It’s ok, you scold me for a reason. Daddy dilly dally for no reason, just always like to dilly dally.

Zara was angry with me for something I said in the car (actually, it’s just a small matter, we said we’ll go for a holiday without her, and she got so upset), and when we got to the supermarket, she didn’t want to hold my hand. She even said, “I don’t love you any more. You are just a piece of junk.” (if you are asking whether I’d used such words to her, NO, I never did).
She was walking in front, and I was just following behind. When she took a turn, she got blocked by some dry grocery sacks (where I was tall enough to see her, but she’s not tall enough to see me). I just stood still on the same spot to see what she’s up to.
Then, she turned back and couldn’t spot me. I could see her turning white, then red, she took a few steps forward, then backwards, terrified, she started shouting, “MUMMY! MUMMY!” and then started crying. I raised my hand up and said “I’m here.”
It took her a while to calm down, she kept asking me, “Where were you? Why I couldn’t see you.
I told her I was right behind her and because she was angry, she couldn’t see me.
She said, “I was so angry until my eyes got fire, and I cannot see clearly. Now I’m happy, my eyes got water, wash away the dirt and everything, and then I can see clearly. o.O”

Zara went to the shop with me and when we got back, she swung the car door too hard, and knocked into the pillar in our porch. The car door has a slight scratch. Of course Daddy wasn’t happy. He brought it up again after a day :
Daddy : So, what did you break today?
Zara : Nothing.
Daddy : The rate you are going, one day you wake up and you’ll find the whole house collapsed.
Zara : Dad, I don’t want the house to collapse.
After thinking for a moment..
Zara : But the house and the car is not connected wut!

Zara loves cabbage. We normally fry cabbage with dried prawns and she’ll pick up all the dried prawns and put aside before consuming the cabbage. One day,
Me : Aiyo, just eat the dried prawns la. You won’t die, it’s just a small one.
Zara : I’m not a seafood-tarian you know. I don’t like seafood. I don’t like prawns, I don’t like crabs. I’m a vegetarian. I like cabbage.
Me : But you eat fish right? Fish is also seafood. You cannot be a vegetarian if you eat fish.
Zara : That one I just force myself to eat. Because I want to have brains. (we had been telling the girls, eating fish will give them brains because of the DHA)

On another ocasion, when we asked her to eat some pork dish specially cooked for the girls, she said, “I’m a vegetarian, I don’t eat pork.”
I replied, “Who said you don’t eat pork. You eat charsiew (BBQ pork) , you eat juicy pow (Xiao Loong Bao).”
She said, “I only eat low quality pork. All the low quality pork no pork taste. Good quality pork we eat at home got pork taste. I don’t like.” o.O”

Another totally unrelated topic, I asked Zara if Daddy and I can go on a holiday without her.
Zara : “That’s not fair! You go for holiday you must bring me and meimei”
Me : “But Daddy and mummy also should go for holiday on our own right? To pak toh (Chinese : Date) and spend time together.”
Zara : “No. You should bring us.”
Me : “Next time when you get married, you also will go for holiday with your husband alone right? You won’t bring mummy right?”
Zara : “When I get married already, after a while, you will be dead, that’s why I can’t bring you on holiday.”
Ouch!