My Two Girls – All About Zara and Zaria

Here is another shocker.

Last Saturday, we went to Bangsar Village to do our grocery shopping (good for gourmet Cheese, and good European styled bread).

While I was claiming for parking at the information centre, Zara suddenly let go my hand, and ran towards a boy shouting, “Handsome boy!”.
She stopped right in front of a startled little boy aged about 7yrs old, who was quite good looking. She grinned broadly, touched the boy’s face, waved her hand and said, “Hi! Handsome korkor.”
The boy looked surprised, but politely waved back at her and walked on.

Zara continued staring at his back profile. When he reached the exit and turned back to look at Zara, Zara waved back, “Bye! Handsome kor kor.” And started giggling, like a love struck teenager.

Daddy and I just looked at each other utterly shocked at her behaviour! Mind you, my little girl is only 18mths old.

We brought Zara to the football field in our residential area on Sunday morning. Nobody was playing foot ball, so we got the whole field to ourselves. It was wonderful, Zara was so happy to be running in such a big flat grass field.

She was happy chasing after her ball, throwing or kicking the ball.

Daddy kicked the ball into the goal post and Zara shouted hooray (trust her be the goal keeper huh?)

Happy, Sweaty Zara.

For lunch, I made Pumpkin soup using the recipe from River Cafe Cook Book. However, because I didn’t have any chicken stock, I used the Maggie chicken granules (the one without MSG); gosh, it was so yucky (maybe because it’s change of taste bud for me as well), all I could taste is the chicken stock taste, blech. Daddy walloped his bowl without complaint though. The avocado, zucchini and turkey breast sandwich was oh, so good.

As for Zara, she has been crazy about cheese. On both Sat and Sun, all she wanted for breakfast and lunch was, “bread and cheese”. Offered her anything and she turned her face and said, “Don’t want”. So it was bread and cheese for her.

On Sat morning, she even woke up and I think she was trying to tell me what she dreamt about (but of course she’s too young to know what a dream is). She told me first thing in the morning when she opened her eyes, “Got big big cheese.” before she smiled and stretched.

Anybody knows any good but not too salty cheese to go with bread or cracker for the little one? I’d been giving her Kraft, Baby Bell and the smiling cow cheese spread. We give her some of our gourmet chedder as well, but it’s too salty and I always feel guilty after giving her some.

Hui Sia asked why I don’t mention much about the pregnancy in my blog. Actually I wanted to wait after the 1st trimester before I include updates of the pregnancy since things can still be very uncertain.

We went to see the Dr 2 weeks ago for my first check up. By right at 7 weeks, the baby’s heartbeat should be visible. However, the Dr couldn’t find one. He told us to return in 2 weeks time. You can imagine how worried we were.

Yesterday we went again. This time, the heartbeat was visible (at least to the Dr). From the size of the baby (slightly more than 1cm), Dr thinks that I’m only 7weeks + pregnant. Still very early in the pregnancy.

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Weaning Zara wasn’t difficult. After I knew I was pregnant, I increased another feed of formula to Zara. I still let her nurse 1st thing in the morning and before she went to bed. I think my milk supply reduced a lot, because she still asked for a bottle after nursing.

A week later, the nursing time also reduce, sometimes she just politely pulled down my t-shirt when I offered her the breast and said, “Close. Want bottle milk.“. At this stage, I found that the taste of the milk has changed as well, from something sweetish it has become a bit sour, probably due to the pregnancy hormones, nature’s way of weaning a child.

By the time she turned 18mths (3 weeks later), she totally stopped wanting the breast. Happy to just have the “bottle breast“, as she calls it.

I was expecting engorgement, and some discomfort, but maybe because the weaning process was spaced out, I do not have any of this. The amazing thing is, the breasts immediately shrunk 2 cups smaller! Just like that. (If only the tummy can shrink in this manner.)

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I’ve started telling Zara about the baby as well. She likes to bounce on my tummy, and I’d told her she can’t do that anymore because there’s a baby in my stomach, and the baby will feel the pain if she jumped on me. She seems to understand it.

Now, if she forgot and started bouncing on me, I’ll tell her, “Zara cannot jump on mummy”. She would quickly stop, kiss my stomach and say, “Got baby inside”.

Zara wanted to play with some paint on a rainy day, she started making a mess. So I stripped her and let her paint herself silly in her tub.

When I was not looking, she found my really really old tampons, unwrapped the plastic wrapper, and started playing with it.

We were at my sister’s place on Sunday, and she had a good time playing with her cousins. Here is here trying to strum the guitar.

She’s trying to do a yoga bridge, after seeing King’s Wife’s daughter Samantha did it.

And here is her extremely tired, waiting for daddy’s car at the lobby of my sis’ apartment

Cocka Doodle wants to know what gives me pleasure, but he should know, it’s everything to do with Zara, but I’ll try to add in others too which is not related to her.

1) Smelling Zara’s skin and hair after her bath or early in the morning
2) Having her wrapped her hands around me, giving me a hug
3) When she plant those lips on mine without being asked
4) Zara laying her head on my shoulder when I lift her up
5) Her funny ways of using words
6) Seeing the naked little bum of Zara’s
7) The way she looks up on me to do things she can’t do yet (like putting on the CD for her, helping her to climb up a chair, or reciting the nursery rhyme). “Mummy help” or “Mummy do”
8) Daddy shuffling my hair (a sign of his affections)
9) Biting on that piece of juicy duck with crispy skin.. Aaaaa
10) Seeing the 2 love of my life enjoying the food I’d cooked for them

I won’t tag anybody but it’s an easy tag to do, if you are interested, please go ahead and do it.

In the morning, Zara wakes up and demands for her milk.
Instead of saying “milk milk” liked she used to say before snuggling close by to nurse, she says, “wants bottle breast” (thanks to breast feeding, she thinks all milk come from breast, even if it’s the bottle).

In the night, after she’d brushed her teeth, and come out of the toilet.
Zara : “Zara’s teeth so nice.”
Then she adds on : “Uh-Ker (uncle) XXX Seng’s teeth not nice.” Remembering Sengkor‘s chocolate coated teeth at May’s birthday.

She likes this new VCD Wow! That’s What I called Nursery Rhyme very much. I don’t quite like it because the nursery rhymes are sung too quickly, and the moving graphics too chaotic.
She took the VCD to me the other day, tapping on it, she said “Mummy put this one”.
I told her, “Mummy don’t like this one. Too noisy, make mummy headache”
She replied, joining her thumb and index finger together, “Soft soft ma”.
Ha.. she thought I was complaining about the volume, so she suggested I turn down the volume.

While out with my eldest sis and her baby Tasha, we teased Zara.
Sis : Mummy tonight sleep with Tasha baby, you sleep with Yi-yi ok?
Zara : Mummy sleep with Daddy only.
(obviously, I can’t sleep with anybody)

About 2 months back, Zara started showing some sign of independence.

She wakes up in the morning, and if we still wanted to sleep, she would play on her own (although sometimes she stepped on sleeping bodies to get down of the bed, or to reach the other side of the bed to grab things that interest her).

I could leave her in the room and take a shower as long as I have her ‘approval’.
Me : Mummy take shower Zara play on your own ok?
If the answer is : OK. It means she’ll be fine, the most she would do is come to the bath room and peek into the shower screen.
If the answer is : Don’t want or Cannot. Then it means she would cry if I really step into the shower.
She would normally busy herself with her books, or just play with the bed side table (she pretends that’s her piano).

Zara understands instruction very well, and we can tell her
“Don’t carry this because it’s heavy and it may fall on your feet (big books or small furniture)”
“Don’t climb on to the chair if nobody is around or you may fall”
“Don’t put small things in the mouth because you’ll get choked”
“Don’t put the lotion/cream in your mouth because it’ll make your stomach pain pain” and she would not ignore them.

We still of course try to make the environment as safe for her as it can be, but it’s good to know that even if she found a coin or a button on the floor, she wouldn’t put it in her mouth; and she wouldn’t climb up the book shelves or try to move the teak chair around when we’re not watching.

I caught a glimpse of what she was doing through sleepy eyes the other day. She was just playing in her own cot and talking to herself. When I saw how at ease she was playing on her own, I couldn’t help but to climb off the bed and took a few photos of the moment.

It’s also a good feeling to know that if we need to leave her alone for a moment, she wouldn’t do silly things to endanger herself.

I was working from home. I heard the little girl shouting for me from the stair case.
Zara : Mummy where you (where are you)?!!
Me : Here.
Zara : Come, see.
Me : Wait.. coming.
I gladly went down to check.
Zara : Zara queen! *grin*
So here is the queen of the house.

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Heard Zara farted. So I asked her, “Zara fart fart?”
Zara giggled and said, “Like Daddy. Pooot”

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Zara having her favourite fishball for lunch.
Daddy : Zara share share your fish ball with Daddy ok?
Zara : Don’t want
Daddy : Zara must share share
Zara : Zara share share with Zara only (clever answer)

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Zara vomited out some milk after her feed.
Me : What happened? Why Zara vomit?
Zara : *grinned* Zara choke! Urk! Urk! *demonstrated*

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After she’d finished playing with her toy, I asked her to clean up.
Me : Zara! Clean up time!
Zara : Don’t want.
Me : Zara, if you don’t clean up who will clean up the mess then?
Zara : Kakak clean up.
Me : *surprised by her answer, but still put on a straight face* But Kakak didn’t play with the toys. Why must she clean up?
Zara : Uh-Ke Ah-Nua clean up then
(Uncle Anuar is what she calls King’s driver, and I don’t know why she dragged him into this)

We celebrated my father’s birthday on Saturday in Swiss Chalet, Ampang.

It was a long drive for us. There were at least 10 Korean restaurants, 2 Korean supermarkets and 1 Korean hair dresser on the row of shops where Swiss Chalet was. There were many Korean kids and adults walking about and talking in Korean on the street. It was as though we were in Seol.

We chose this place because the whole top floor of the restaurant were allocated to our dinner group which consist of 19 people.

My eldest sis arrived last with Tasha. Tasha is about 5months now, and so chubby and cute. Every body gathered around her to hear her coo and babble.

While waiting for our main course, Daddy stuffed himself silly with home made bread (his all time favourite), and so did Zara (also her favourite).

I have to say the soup and the salad were wonderful. I had crab bisque soup and shared a salad nicoise with Daddy. For main course I had fried trout. It was horrible. It’s just my taste buds I believe. Can’t stand fish with very strong metal taste. Blech! Every body who had steak said the beef was divine.

While we were having dinner, Zara was so happy to have her cousins playing with her, she was running around, dancing, doing all kinds of silly stunts. She even wanted to walk on the wall because my youngest nephew suggested she can do it like spider man.

My father grinning upon seeing his cake. The restaurant even lighted some sparkles on the cake. Zara said “Ah Kong’s cake brink brink (blink blink)”.
Dad then distributed ang pows (Chinese : Red packets which contain money) to all his grandchildren. Zara was very happy to collect them although she has no idea what they contained.

Zara really had a good time but when it was back at home, oh my, she was crying and fussing, and it took her 1hr to settle down and sleep.

Zara turned 18th month yesterday! Woh, she’s 1 1/2 years old now!
This is on her development, just like what I did for the previous months.

~ Weight 9kg
~ Height : 80.5cm
~ Her 4 Cuspids (canines) are still not fully sprouted.

Dexterity :
Good in climbing up furniture, but still struggle a bit when getting down from a chair or from our wooden chest.
There’s not enough practice for her to climb up and down stairs, so she can’t climb up stairs and down yet while just holding on to the wall, she’s good in going up and down on all fours though.
She can drink from a cup with a little spillage.
She’s very good in scoping things (ice, fish ball) from one bowl to another.

Language :
New popular phrases:
I don’t want!
Adding “Only” behind phrases :
~ Want mummy’s breast only
~ Want Christmas song only (she likes to listen to this Jingle Bell tune from a Karaoke VCD we have)

Making longer sentences, e.g.
“Take bath bath. Eat mum mum (Chinese : food). Christmas song. Read book book.” (telling me what we’ll do when we returned from the park)

Very good at requesting for things, and making sure we hear her demands.
“Want Bina (Ribena) ice.” (when we gave her luke warm Ribena)
“Don’t want biscuit. Want con fakes (corn flakes).”

She can count 1 to 6.
Knows the name of the colours, but still don’t know how to differentiate them yet, except for purple which is the colour of Barney.
Able to recite and sing part of some nursery rhymes (Hey Diddle Diddle, Row Row Row your boat, Cobbler Cobbler mend my shoes etc).
Knows a lot of animals names, some more uncommon ones, e.g.: Raccoon, panda bear, crab, octopus, snails, guinea pig, ostrich (thanks to my DK Visual Encyclopedia).
Knows a lot of fruits and vegetable names, e.g.: Pineapple, strawberry, broccoli, ginger, water melon, pumpkin.
Knows all my family members’ names : My sisters and their husbands, the names of their kids, my father’s.
She knows a baby dog is called Puppy, and a baby cat is called Kitten.

She knows how to use words like together (“Zara and mummy go home together“), loud and soft (for the volume of her songs), pretend (“Pretend drink tea“), shy (“Zara shy shy, don’t want to say Hi” when we ask her to greet people and she refuses), shame (“Shame shame, Zara never wear baju“) etc.

Feeding / Food :
Favourite food includes : fish, raisin, bread, fish ball, grapes, pear, wanton, water melon, spinach.
Takes 3 solid meals and have 3 milk feeds (about 4~6oz per feed, and mainly on formula now).

Emotions :
Loving, gives lots of hugs, and kisses.
More apprehensive with strangers now compared to how she used to be, will greet them, but won’t let them touch her.

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We just got back from the paed for Zara’s 1 1/2 year old jab. Dr has to administer 2 jabs. One for her booster DTP, Polio and Hib, the other is Pneumococcal vacination.

She walked into the Dr’s clinic very bravely, said Hi to the Dr. Let the Dr check her without fussing. Then took her jabs. She just complained, “Bum bum pain pain” after the Dr has administered the 2 jabs. Then shook the Dr’s hand, and waved bye bye and said “See you” and walked out of the clinic. Not a single tear nor wailing! That’s my girl!