Oops... I missed a month... naughty Mummy! I've let time slip by me yet again, and whaddaya know, Zara is 2 months older and I'm sitting here wondering where all that time went!
Zara is more of a Terrible Toddler these days, certainly no longer a little baby. I look back at her photos and videos, and somehow cant remember her ever being that small. Then again, in hindsight, she has always had some spunk this one; I knew at 2 months that she would be both a chatterbox and a go-getter, and every day that goes by now, I'm being proven right! (and I'm not sure that's a good thing LOL!)
She is also extremely funny, has a great sense of humour and a terrible temper.
Her God-Daddy, Uncle Farez came by last night, and they kept each other very entertained, with Zara pretending to wrestle him to the ground with her signature move, The Fisticuff (i.e. cuffing Uncle Farez's shirt with her fist). Uncle Farez of course responded with lots of grimacing and dramatic slow-mo TKOs, throwing Zara into a fit of giggles. Believe me, with her underbite and two bunny rabbit teeth, this really looks hilarious!
Abah and I were so amused we have bestowed her a Pro-Wrestler name - The ZaraNator.
She has also learnt a lot of new words these last two months, and is getting so much better at playing on her own. She also LOVES to dance, and has some pretty cool moves for a baby. Abah takes credit for this, because he insists I have NO groove. Anyway...
Zara this month weighs in at over 11kg, and taller than 75cm, and I'm afraid I cant get the exact weight and measurements right now because she's in bed (hence my freedom to write).
Skills & Quirks
She can now "salam" people when asked; sometimes she gets a little over enthusiastic - like at a recent kenduri when everyone was lifting their hands to doa, Zara thought they were holding out their hands for salam, so she took the initiative and went around kissing everyone's raised hands LOL!
Still enjoys dancing, and added quite a few moves to her repertoire - she can jig, spin, and so something that resembles the Poco-Poco (not haram in Selangor I believe! :-p )... She especially loves it when I sing "The Hokey Pokey" and will make me to sing it again and again so she can continue dancing.
Loves picture books, she will 'read' in the car and they're also a good distraction during diaper changes!
She particularly likes her animal picture book!
Can go up and down steps without having to crouch, but it has resulted in her falling a couple of times.
Can kiss Mummy on the lips when I say "Kiss Kiss", and on the cheeks when I point at my cheek. When she's done something wrong and is scolded, she knows she is forgiven when I say "Kiss kiss" and point at my cheek.
When she's done with her milk at night, she'll put the cover on the bottle, walk over and give it back to me.
Can scribble with a pen or pencil. Usually on today's newspaper.
Or in this case, Tok's business pages!
She likes to climb onto things and balance precariously on them, even tiny little boxes. When we catch her doing it, she looks very guilty.
Still enjoys hiding things. When we went to Penang recently, I couldnt find most of her bangles until we were about to check out. She had hidden all of them under the TV!
She's very very friendly with people. Too much sometimes! She'll waltz up to strangers on the street and put her arms around them or 'salam' them. We hear the lines 'Wah, such a friendly baby' a lot! They have no idea about her temper! (See below: Bad Habits!)
She made friends with a group of Indian tourists in Penang!
Tries to comb her hair - she understands the concept but still cant figure out the right way to hold the comb.
Tries to brush her teeth on her own - she can wiggle the toothbrush in and out and around her mouth but still lacks a bit of dexterity.
Communication Skills
We've figured out that "Katakatakatakaiiiiiii....!" means something along the lines of "Kucing Hitam" (her favourite Tickling Game) or the sounds we make when we bounce her up and down. Either way, she's definitely mimicking something we've said, and she still repeats it a LOT.
New words:
1) "Maam-Maam" (makan) is now "Naam- Naam".
2) "Maam!" is the sound she now makes when she kisses Mummy on the cheek.
3) She now says "Abah" a LOT, and knows it means Daddy.
4) She finally said "Me-Mi" on my birthday *beam*.
5) During bath time she will 'Wash her hair" and "Wash her tummy" when asked, and when I turn the shower off, she signs "Sudah habis".
6) When she knows we're going home or someone is leaving, she will wave and say "Bye".
7) When she's playing with the house phone or my mobile, she'll put it to her ear and say "Hi".
8) Can say "Nana" when she sees my Mum in person and in pictures, as well as when she hears Nana's voice on the phone.
9) She covers her eyes with her hands when we say "Tutup Mata"
10) Will cover her head with her hands when we say "Tutup Tutup Panas Panas"
11) Will point and say "Nah-nah" when she sees a Banana, her favourite food
12) Can point at Elmo and say "Ay-mo"
Zara with her beloved Ay-Mo.
Uses words + hand signs for:
1) When she's had enough to eat, as in "Habis" (accompanied by the word "Haish").
2) When she wants something, she'll point at it and say "Nak".
3) When she wants to be carried, she'll hold out her arms, arch her back and bounce up and down.
4) When someone is being naughty, or when she knows she's done something she shouldn't have, she wiggles her index finger the way I do when I say "No".
Interests
Her new love is "BabyTV". She is glued to it for as long as it's on and will happily play on her own if it's on without sound in the background. Useful when I need to reply emails or make phonecalls!
Continues to enjoy Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Sesame Street, her new favourite being "Sing Hoot & Howl". These days, she watches most of her SS and MMCH via YouTube on my Samsung Galaxy Tab because it's the easiest thing to distract her when I'm in a meeting and need to bring her along.
Yes, she takes her 'Tab-Time' very seriously.
Is more confident now in the water and not as scared to try wading on her own.
Loves to imitate what she sees happening around her - she will play masak-masak with her pots and pans, then put Elmo in her feeding chair and pretend to feed him.
Really enjoys her Nana and Ah Kong's garden! She will run everywhere and cant get enough of the grass!
She made poor Ah Kong run up and down the hill THREE times!
Zara has a new fetish - SHOES! She *cannot* resist seeing a pair of shoes, baby-sized or otherwise, without trying them on. Presenting... the Zara Shoes Series:
Any type of shoe... you name it.
Feeding
Zara is now completely self-weaned from breastmilk and only occasionally now will pull open my shirt in the morning for a bit of a nibble, but I reckon that's more out of habit than for milk.
Yep she scoffs down those bananas alright!
Breakfast these days is usually a banana with a 250ml packet of cold fresh milk, which I alternate with cereal and homemade apple puree, 2 slices of bread and milk, or yoghurt.
Lunch is a 240ml bottle of warm milk before her nap.
Dinner is usually anything I can put together with the stuff I have in the fridge. Her current favourites: Tuna & Mixed Vege Pasta, Brocolli/Cauliflower & Cheese, Ikan Bilis & Carrot Porridge with Marmite, Scrambled Eggs with Chives & Cheese, and Tuna & Spinach/Peas. She also adores Potato Chips, but wont touch Mashed Potato.
For snacks, she'll happily chew on almost any biscuit you give her, but her new craze is sultanas. I've now stocked up on those little boxes of SunMaid Raisins, which she just loves eating on her own. She also enjoys watermelon and dragonfruit but has a love/hate relationship with Mangoes. Oh, and she LOVES carrot juice - dont ask me why coz it tastes horrible, but she can easily down one glass over dinner.
Milk
We've since switched brands to Abbott Gain Plus EyeQ growing up milk, which Zara seems to really love. We used to have issues with her not finishing her milk, but since the switch, she'll easily finish a full bottle and sometimes even ask for more.
One 240ml bottle of Abbott GainPlus before naptime at about 2pm, and another 240ml bottle at bedtime.
Sleeping
Naptime still once a day, from 2-4pm after lunchtime susu.
Bedtime from 10pm to 9am, or 10am if I'm lucky!
She also finds sleeping comfort in some really weird places!
Teeth
Has sprouted countless new teeth over the last month, but I cant get her to open her mouth long enough to check how many. She definitely has two new ones at the front on the lower jaw, another new one on the front at the upper jaw, a couple of molars at the bottom and at least one molar at the top.
New bad habits!
TANTRUMS! She can really throw a massive one when she wants to - but mostly only when she's tired and cranky. She'll throw herself on the floor and refuse to get up. Try pulling her up and she will stretch her arms high so that you cant grip her under the shoulders. Yep, the makings of a drama queen. Help!
It's getting impossible to leave her alone for even a minute - not even when I need to pee. While in Penang, I had to dash to the loo and when I got out, this is what Zara had done:
The ZaraNator used her Superhuman strength to wrestle
The Drawer to the ground!
When you're not looking and don't realise she has poo in her diaper, watch out! I caught her the other day pulling shit pellets out of her pants and squishing them on the floor!
Other Major Milestones
Zara got her first passport!
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I am really enjoying Zara at this age, eventhough she is getting to be quite a handful.
It can be really really exhausting chasing after her everywhere, especially since she likes taking chances and will try climbing/stepping over/running through/going under and/or getting into trouble, if she can. Plus, for all her daring, she's pretty clumsy and can fall flat on her face in a split second. Luckily, she's quite hardy and doesnt cry when she falls unless you fuss over her, so if you say "Alaa takpe takpe", she'll get up and off again as if nothing happened.
But there's an upside to all this, and it's that the more she observes and the more confident she becomes, the more she learns about people, about showing her feelings and about love. And I can tell you, there's nothing more precious in the world than waking up in the morning having her arms wrapped around me or coming home after a bad day in the studio to a delighted face and warm little hug.
Yeah, I'm easy to please :-) And the terribles are simply more bearable when she points at me and says 'Me-Mi' *melts*
