My Two Girls – All About Zara and Zaria

Daddy loves fish, any types of fish (not the same type of Piscean Lust that this guy has though, Daddy’s love is the edible type). Big fish, small fish, ocean fish, fresh water fish ; cooked in whatever styled, steamed, fried, soup, curry. And Zara is just like Daddy.

When it’s dinner time, and we put her onto her highchair, she would point to the fish dish (we always have a fish dish for dinner because Daddy can’t do without) and bounced excitedly on her chair chanting, “wis!”

If we gave her just her porridge (cooked with either pork or chicken with vegetable), she would just casually trust her tongue and push the porridge out of her mouth (her way of spitting). We have to take a bit of fish, put it on top of the porridge and tell her, “See, fish! Now, eat.” We can’t cheat her, she has very sensitive taste bud, if she tasted no fish in her porridge, she would just spit out the porridge.

We went to have Japanese dinner during the weekends. We ordered a serving of grill salmon with salt for Zara. The first bite she took, she immediately put her thumb out and said, “Gng” (her pronunciation of Good). She had 2/3 of the salmon steak all by herself!

At home for dinner, the amount of fish she consumed is the same as the amount I would take.

This week for dinner, she refused to have her porridge nor rice, and just wanted fish, nothing else! Where is she going to get her carbo?

This morning, I told her in the car,
Me : Tonight’s dinner, you ask Kakak to cook you fish ok?
Zara : *bouncing in her car seat* Wis!
Me : How you tell Kakak to give you fish?
Zara : TATAK! Wis!
Me : How big you want the fish to be?
Zara : *stretched her arms out and bounced further* (her way of signing big)

The rate she’s eating fish, we’ll have to buy another adult’s portion every time we go marketing. With a big cat and a little cat at home, fish has become a necessity!! Luckily we have befriended the fish monger in our market in Kampung Subang who sells us very good and fresh fish at a reasonable price (used to do marketing in Imbi Market and paid double the price for same amount of fish)!!

After reading JoeC’s post where he got spanked by this group of ladies (although they call themselves bitches, I wouldn’t use that to address them) whose blog is about giving blog reviews or bashings, I thought I’d submit mine for spanking too.

I got mine reviewed on 1st January 2006. Wasn’t I lucky? To read the content, go here, but basically, this is what they said.

Recipe for Boredom
4 cups of baby pictures
3 tbsp of “what zara did”
1 default Blog template
a dash of English
6 months of crap
Combine all ingredients in a pot, mix until smooth, splatter across the internet. Serves 23,958,591.
I give it 1 hand up.

Oh well, I knew what I was into when I submitted it for review. Just have to take it lightly. Even if it was a big yawn, I’ll still continue with my blog, I did warn in advance, it’s ALL ABOUT ZARA, and not about anything scandulous.

So if you want, you can submit yours for some bashing or spanking too, but just take it with a pinch of salt and not too personally. Like what JoeC said, “Mereka tak pernah makan nasi lemak.”

Blog on!!

It’s first day at work after such a long break *sob sob*. It was nice to spend more than a week at home with Zara, to be there to see some of her development, and to experience some of the funny or special moments.

New Year’s Eve Morning
Zara woke up next to me and saw that Daddy’s side was empty, she climbed down the bed and searched for Daddy
Zara : *extend her palm up* Papa?
Me : Papa in the bathroom
Zara : *half squatted down* Sssssss
Me : *tittering* No, Daddy is not in the toilet to she-she (Chinese: Pee), Daddy is in the toilet to take bath
I think she knows how we adult ‘she-she’ by going into the toilet with me when she’s in her clingy mood, and I told her I was sitting on an adult’s potty to ‘she-she’

New Year’s Morning
Me : Zara, wakey wakey, sleepy baby!
Zara : *stretched and smiled*
Me : Call me, MUMMY.
Zara : *smiled* Mi-na
Me : MUM-MEE
Zara : Mi-na
Ok Ok, will just settle for Mi-na for now.

Later the same day
Me : Zara, call me, MUMMY
Zara : Ah Mee
Me : MUMMY
Zara : Ah Mee
Ah Mee sure sounds better than Mi-na. And yes, she started calling me Ah Mee since New Years Day!!

Breakfast
Me : Zara, what do you want to have for breakfast?
Zara : Mum-mum! (Chinese for food)
Daddy: Do you want bread? *gave her some*
Zara ate and spit out, then shook her head
Me : Mummy get you yogurt then
Zara : Kng! (not sure if she’s saying yogurt or just ‘good’)
I opened a tub of Petite Miam for her and started feeding her. Half way through,
Zara : *pointed to something* Moo-ner-mang! Moo-ner-mang! *excitedly*
I followed her finger, and saw she was pointing to Daddy who’s having a banana
Me : You want a banana?
Zara : *did her more sign by pointing her index finger to her palm* Moo-ner-mang!
I peeled her one boomerang, I mean banana and offered it to her together with her yogurt.
So, banana to her is a boomerang!

Hair cutting at the salon (Zara sitting on my lap)
Yen (the hairdresser) : *Put her hand on arm* So what hair style do you want?
Zara pushed her arm away
Yen : Eh, your daughter won’t let me touch you
Me : No la, where got?
Yen : You see.. *she put her hand on my arm again*
Zara pushed her arm away and stared at her
Me : Yeah hor. I didn’t realise. Do again.
Yen put her hand on my arm one more time
Zara pushed her arm away again.
Haha, the little girl doesn’t like strangers to touch me! She’s started to be possessive!

Nap time
Me : *kissed her cheek* Mummy loves you, Zara. Do you love mummy?
Zara : *stroke my face tenderly with her hand, and looked at me*
Me : *kissed her cheek again* Yes, Mummy knows you love mummy too
Zara : *laid her head on my shoulder* Huh Huh
Me : *Tightened my arms around her* Mummy hug hug you too.

She has been extremely loving these few days, always coming to me and wrapped her arms around my leg while I was standing; or laid her head on my lap if I was sitting; or just patting my shoulder, or stroking my face when I carried her.

2005 has been a good year, mainly because of Zara.

Nothing has prepared me for this, but
I started to realise the joy of motherhood
I started understanding the capacity to love, to care for, to nurture another individual

I saw the first smile, the first sit, the first crawl, the first swim, the first step, the first dance
I heard the first laugh, the first word, the first singing, the first phrase
I experienced her first kiss, her first hug, her first snuggle
I nursed her first fever, her first fall

2005 I fell in love all over again, this time more passionate than any other times I’d experienced with a man. I became a mother and fell in love with my daughter

2005 was all about Zara, Zara and Zara, and I know the coming years would be the same too
2005 was a good year, with Zara, everything is good

Thank you all for reading my blog, for sharing the joy and pain with me

Happy New Year to All Of You!

Since we had stremyx, most of my nights during the weekends are spent on blog surfing or blogging (if we didn’t go out).

Tonight, I wanted to post some of Zara’s photo taken yesterday when I took her swimming with King’s Wife’s kids in my sis’ appartment.

After I logged on, Daddy came in, and asked sweetly (rarely does he speak to me in such a manner) if we should watch a movie together (DVD of course). I can’t refuse those small bambi eyes can I?

So I shall try to post the photos tomorrow, and watch a movie with him (maybe Cinderella Man). Just to be a good wife occasionally. If you wonder if anything steamy going to happen after that, well, just remember the photo in this post. Unless we play London Bridge Is Falling Down later.

Oops, this is a blog for my daugther. I shouldn’t get too detail with such things, so I shall stop before I say too much.

(Just to make me feel guilty, he’s blasting All By Myself on his amplifier now. Ok ok, I should go now)

Both Daddy and I read a lot at home; in the house, we would rather read than to watch TV (we are one of the rare few who don’t subscribe to Astro or satellite TVbecause we’re quite stingy). When we do watch TV, it is mostly the news (for Daddy) and a movie (DVD) for me.

We introduced books to Zara as soon as she could sit up supported, her concentration span initially was of course very short, not being able to even sit through 1 or 2 pages of picture books. As her understanding of the language and her awareness of her surrounding increased, she starts being able to look at the pages for a longer period, and slowly begins to show more enthusiasm. The first book she really love was Baby, Boo! (the book that actually taught her how to kiss at 8 month old). After Baby, Boo! she seems to show more interest in books, even my novels (she likes to take it and flip the pages to check out what I was reading, probably wonder why I’m so engrossed in books without a single picture).

Every night, before she goes to bed, either Daddy or I will read her 2 books. Most of the time, we asked her to choose her books from her little library; sometimes when we’re bored reading to her the same book over and over again, to provide her with more variety, we picked the books instead.

Even when there’s no one to read to her, she sometimes would still flip a book and read to herself in her own language.

Here are a few of her book moments…

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

I’m in the process of trying to wean Zara off breastfeeding. For her 1st year, the only milk she’d taken was just breast milk; except on the occasion when I was away for a week on business trip in May, and I didn’t have enough stocked up for her consumption.

To start off, I tried to introduce her to formula on days when my milk supply was low. I got Tuyam to supplement her with 1 or 2 oz of formula (Enfalac) after she’d taken the expressed breast milk. According to Tuyam, she had tossed the bottle away in anger when she tasted the milk to be different, refusing to take any, and survived on whatever I could provide (i.e. 3oz on some days per feed).

Zara does have discerning taste. I’d tried the formula myself, and I find that it’s absolutely yucky. Very strong iron taste, and so fake (chemical taste). I’m one who would like to know the taste of the food I put into Zara’s mouth, so I’d also tasted my own breast milk. I have to say the taste of breastmilk is absolutely heavenly, it’s creamy but with the right consistency and with a hint of sweetness. It’s not something I can describe, you have to taste it yourself to know what I mean, but I know most would just turn their noses the other way even if it was something you produced (the husbands too would probably not want to taste their wives’ milk).

The other day, I got a pack of of Enfagrow A+ (Honey) sample, and I thought this would probably taste better than the Enfalac. So I got Tuyam to start giving Zara some on days where I could only express less than 4oz per feed. Zara took this better than the Enfalac, according to Tuyam, which is good.

Today, while at home, Zara has been coming to me every 2 hours and asking for milk. “Huh Huh (her pronunciation for ‘milk milk’)! Huh Huh!” she had her head on my chest. One of my breasts was bitten by her 2 days back, and there’s actually a cut, every time she nursed I had to bite my lips and endure the pain, as one of her teeth would just sink right into the wound, the feeling is exactly like rubbing salt to a wound. *ouch* I cringed every time she wanted to nurse.

When she asked for her 4th feed at lunch time, I just told her, “Mummy no more milk milk, you want bottle?” just to test the water. She didn’t shake her head, but instead started chanting “Bottle! Bottle!” I quickly got Tuyam to sterilise her bottle and made her 2oz of formula, and then went into hiding. After 5 minutes, Tuyam came to tell me she’d finished the milk.

After lunch, she again came to me for milk (another cringe). I asked her if she wanted the bottle? Again, she didn’t shake her head. This time, I made the formula instead, and tried feeding her, but she wouldn’t take it from me. She just pushed the teat out every time I placed it in her mouth. After a few tries and she didn’t suck on the bottle, I got Tuyam to feed her instead, and I sat next to them. She refused to take, and gave me that sheepish smile. I thought maybe I should again go into hiding. After Tuyam assured her a few times that I wasn’t around and with her sticking out her head to scan the living room to confirm I wasn’t around, she started sucking on the teat, and took another 2oz.

When I reappeared after she’d finished, she again had this sheepish smile, as though feeling embarrassed that she’d taken formula milk. Maybe she was worried it would hurt my feelings.

After this feed, the bottle trick won’t work any more. Every time she wanted her feed and I said “you want bottle?” She just shook her head and started groping for my breasts. So I couldn’t put off nursing her any longer, and just have to endure the pain *frown*, again, and again, and again(3 more feeds till she slept *ouch*).

On a happier note, I’m glad she’d started accepting formula, which means I could slowly wean her off now. This is my first step. The 2nd step is to prepare myself emotionally. Breastfeeding is a bond I have with her, will I be able to cope when we no longer share this bond?

Office is shut this week, so all of us have to take compulsory leave. I’m home with the little one, and luckily I have Tuyam, or else I won’t be able to even go and clear my bowel with the little koala, Zara, clinging to me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She uttered her first phrase 2 nights ago. I was nursing my migraine and I heard her told Daddy, “Uh-Oh, book” while pointing to a pile of books on the floor (Even though it’s not fully in English, it’s still a milestone to capture)

She uses Uh-Oh for things dropped, things missing, things lying on the floor. For the above phrase, her books were scattered on the floor after Daddy read to her, so she was probably complaining about the mess.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This morning, after Zara woke up this simple dialogue took place :
Me : Zara, lets go downstairs already!
Zara : Mum Mum *excitedly*!
Me : Yes, go downstairs to mum mum!
Zara : Wise (her pronunciation of rice)!
Me : No, not rice. Morning we don’t take rice.
Zara : Wis (her pronunciation of fish)!
Me : No, no fish in the morning. We have bread or biscuit ok?
Zara : Bed (her pronunciation of bread)! Bed! Bed!
When we got downstairs, she went to the kitchen and chanted Bed until I gave her a small slice of bread.
(She loves fish, and rice compared to her porridge, and bread is her staple diet too).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Before we got broadband, most nights, I will be in the room reading after Zara has gone to bed or interrupt Daddy’s love making to his DIY amplifier to have some small talks.

After we got broadband, most nights, I would be in the study reading blogs or blogging, and if Daddy wasn’t downstairs making love to his amplifier, he would be coming into the study to make small talks, but I would be rolling my eyes and waiting for him to finish whatever he wanted to say so I can go back to whatever I was reading or doing again.

So sad.

So what did we do on Christmas day and Boxing day?

On Christmas day, we went to visit my sister in the hospital again. She was all ready to leave the hospital for home, was just waiting for BIL to come and pick her up.

After the hospital we went to MIL’s place. Daddy helped to paint the grill there, and I tried to get Zara to nap on the thin and narrow piece of padded cloth MIL provided. When I told Zara to sleep, she just leaned back so suddenly, and the thin material didn’t cushion her head, so she knocked her head and cried. It took me some time to pacify her. For the rest of her nap, I had to stay with her just to make sure she didn’t turn (and move out of the narrow cloth) and knock her head on the floor. I also took a mental note that the next time if we need to let Zara nap in MIL’s place, we have to bring our own little matress.

Because I had stayed up very late the last few nights to blog, when it was time for dinner, I had this massive migraine (it always comes when I don’t have enough sleep). When we arrived at the restaurant, I had no appetite to eat, and after just a few mouth full of rice, I retched. I got MIL and SIL to feed Zara dinner, while I rested in the adjoining furniture shop (which was also part of the restaurant).

It was a very bad night for me, went to the toilet many times to throw up, and the throbbing headache was very unbearable. I had an early night, and reminded myself I should not blog or blog surf till too late.

On Boxing Day, I was feeling better, since I had 1ohours of sleep the night before. We visited my friend, Sandy, who’d given birth almost a month ago, together with another close friend YC and her son Bryan. I have to say new borns do grow very fast, the baby looks very different from the time we visited him in the hospital.

While we did some catching up, the kids had a great time in Sandy’s place, playing with Sandy’s eldest daugther’s toys.

Here’s a shot of them, Kei Kei (Sandy’s niece), Yen Mae (Sandy’s eldest daugther), Bryan and Zara.

In the evening, after a bit of rest at home, Daddy decided to bring Zara to the Shah Alam Lake Garden. Zara again had a good time running and walking about in the park. She was curious about almost everything she saw on the floor, the ice cream wrapper, the fallen leaves, the tall grass. I almost freaked out every time she bent down to touch something (I can’t stand her getting dirty).

We celebrated Christmas Eve in a Chinese Restaurant, then went back to King’s Wife’s place to cut King’s birthday cake; and for the kids, the happiest moment, opening the presents! Too bad my eldest sis is still in the hospital because she’s just given birth, or there’ll be a bigger crowd.

Cool kids in the family

Zara enjoying some of the adults’ food

Zara in good spirit

Zara with the men in the family

Zara helping to distribute presents

Kids opening their presents (Zara with my help, of course)

Zara with her 2 favourite presents, a pair of shoes (from my youngest sis), and a play phone (from King’s Wife).

The trees, ours (top left), King’s wife’s which was chocking with presents, and the empty tree.

Merry Christmas every one!