Nathan had his moving up celebration from Senior Pre-K to Kindergarten last Friday. Extra special because my parents came from Indonesia to celebrate with us.

I’m really proud of his social growth this school year. He has learnt to communicate his feelings better and to share his thoughts when he’s upset. He also has learnt to include his friends during playtime.

We are so grateful for his teacher, Teacher Vren, who has patiently loving him throughout the year. Nathan adores her and will surely miss her.

On the celebration Nathan had several tasks:

1. Narrate the story for the Junior Pre-K class
2. Perform “Pete the Cat and his white shoes” song with his classmates
3. Sing “True Color” song
4. Dance to “Can’t Stop the Feeling”
5. Sing moving up song

Through the performances I observed that he enjoyed dancing more than singing. He was also concerned about orders. Few times he looked down to make sure that he was standing on his marked spot. He was bothered when his female classmate sang the “boys part” of the song. Heheh.

Watching him performing with confidence made me a bit teary. My baby has grown so much and soon he’s no longer a little kid. I’m glad that he was in a safe learning community that he enjoyed a lot.

By God’s grace we will always have a love filled community in Indonesia or wherever we live in the future.

I first had the idea of homeschooling when I was in Melbourne. I cannot remember the exact trigger but being a carer in Wesley’s after school program ABC Day Care gave me a glimpse of parents-kids relationships and schooling. Also the (awful) memory of learning in high school; memorization and more memorization.

Anyhow, Phodi never say no to HS but he also didn’t completely agree on it. Fast forward to 2017 when we were looking at the possibility of moving to Manila, Phodi was exposed to the huge community of homeschooler in our church, CCF. He had a shift of mind on HS and think that we should do HS. However I was the one who think that HS is impossible but I also reject the idea of regular school. Haha.

One of our main concerns was a community. We know some friends in Jakarta and Surabaya who are doing HS but we know noone who’s doing HS in Bandung, evenmore a fellow Christian. Through some friends I got introduced to some people in Bandung but I was still unsure.

Last week I was asking for more connection and finally found a Christian/Catholic group of homeschoolers. Hehe I was glad that at least there is one. So that was one thing to tick off.

One other thing, I almost forget how fun it is to learn together with my kids, especially Nathan. With him in school 4 days a week and a music class on the other day, I almost never do activities with him anymore. The most we would do is reading, but then he can read by himself too! So we haven’t had that learning time together.

Last week he was staying home because of cold and we made a simple chinese numbers game. It was so fun or as Marie Kondo would say it “sparks joy”. I just realized how precious it is to be able to intentionally spend time with my kids.

That night I told Phodi that maybe we should try homeschooling. Other thing that also convicted me was Ps Josh and Sean McDowell during the IDC Conference. They said that parents are responsible to their children not for their children. To love, to train and to teach. Children are accountable for themselves. While there could be many interpretations on this, for me education is one responsibility and HS seems to suit our family best.

Eek.. Even writing this right now gives me so much anxiety. But then 1 Peter 5:7 says “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” Also I keep reminding myself that God cares for my kids more than Phodi or I care for them.

Please pray for Phodi and I as we decide on this matter. I’m praying specifically for teachable hearts (us and the kids), provision (community, financial, space) and wisdom to choose the most suitable method/curriculum/material should we go ahead with HS.

She loves dancing, jumping and running around. She’s almost always in a semi-running mode instead of walking. She is one feisty and determined little girl. In the last year she had 2 bloody accidents (compared with Nathan’s ZERO accident). Once by falling off the chair and another one by bumping into a pole in the playground. It is truly by God’s grace that her teeth remain intact.

She loves singing (alphabet song is her favourite) and telling story to everyone, one by one. “Papa Papa, birds! Mama, birds! Kakak Kakak, birds!” She picks up words in English eventhough Phodi and I speak in Indonesian with her. I guess she really idolizes Nathan.

She loves being independent. Putting on and taking off her shoes, taking off her clothes, eating, drinking… Yet she’s not able to do them yet and she will get frustrated and throw a tantrum.

Thus having Nadine and all her antics was a shock for me because Nathan didn’t start throwing tantrums until he’s 3.5. Hehe. It is very challenging to calm a child who can’t converse yet. I can say that my patience had been pushed to the limit many times in the last year.

I love you Nadine dear. You made me learn what it means to be understanding and patient. You made me realize that having a second child doesn’t mean half the love but twice the heart. Jesus loves you the most.

I know I should have known better and realized this sooner… Yet here I am struggling in more than one way to understand my baby girl.

I love my girl, I really do. Yet sometimes I wonder why do I feel like I am not connected with her.

Is it because I somewhat feel that she’s taking my time away from my first born? She’s very clingy and that makes everything so hard for all of us.

Is it because she’s too independent at times? Wanting to eat by herself while she’s still unable to do so.. Resulting in a major mess and all.

Is it because she’s strong willed? Throwing tantrums when her wants are not met.. And she’s only a one year old baby.

I’m learning to understand and accept that my girl is different from her brother.

She gravitates towards beauty and all things pretty. She loves dolls and pinks. She loves to watch me doing make up and demands to do the same. She enjoys playing with make up brushes and putting on lotions. All the things that her brother never bother looking.

She likes playing with duplos and cars. But the only thing that will make her calm is her jellycat bunny.

She is gentle but she can be fierce. Afterall, she needs to defend herself and her toys from her brother. They are still learning how to act towards each other.

She loves dancing with her papi. She cries everytime papi leaves for work. Her brother never bother seeing papi goes to work. She runs to his arms each day he enters the door.

I’m trying to understand that she has a gentler heart. That she has different emotional needs than her brother. I have to figure out her needs so I can provide for her.

I’m learning to know my girl better so I can guide her better. I’m raising a girl, God’s own princess.

At 3 years 4 months, my boy unleashed his anger/tiredness/sleepiness/confusion at the worst place and time possible. Imagine this… us waiting in a mall lobby for our ride (which was later cancelled! and we couldn’t get anything for half an hour), with one sleepy baby who demanded to be carried and an angry+sleepy toddler who demanded to be left alone in the mall.

Nathan actually ran back inside the store and the security guard helped us to chase him. We were busy with the stroller and a crying Nadine and trying to book a ride home. Chaos chaos!

Looking back, I’m glad that the whole situation was ok. Far from fine but ok. Nathan’s type of tantrum is squatter. Like those doing demonstration, Nathan will sit on the floor and cry out loud. Screaming for what he wants and crying for attention. He also likes to take off his shoes and socks when he wears them. He’s not the lying and rolling on the floor type.

Actually what bugged me the most was not us creating scene and people looking. What annoyed me the most was him sitting down on the floor shoeless! Grrrr… picking up all the dirts on the floor I had to rinse his clothes before putting them into the washing machine with the other laundry.

Anyway, his tantrum was because he’s sleepy yet couldn’t sleep being too excited looking at Christmas lights. Several hours passed and he snapped because we didn’t let him walk down the escalator. Duh!

In the end I had to carry him while carrying Nadine with the carrier. Ok lah, whatever needed to make him calm. Carried him for few minutes, managed to get him to sit inside the stroller and finally he slept in the stroller. Nadine went to sleep as well during the process. Praise the Lord!

The most comforting thing was that during the tantrum, a lady very kindly smiled at me. I was nursing Nadine while carrying her inside the Ergo, Nathan was sitting and crying on the floor and there she was smiling at me. Then suddenly all the burden lifted up! Thank you for being very understanding instead of judging. You knew I’ve tried my best to calm my little beast. Haha.

So please people, the next time you see a kid throwing tantrum, please smile at the parents. Um.. smile sympathetically.. that will help. They’re trying their best even when their parenting style is different from yours.

And for parents, this too shall pass!

Nathan has really becoming a threenager. In the last month I have dealt with lots of threenager anger, talk backs and running away. For example;

On anger: Nathan kangen sama Papi. Haaaaaaaa *throws everything within arm’s reach*

On talk back: I said A, he said B. I said B, he said C. I said C, he said D and on and on and on.

On running away: He gained confidence to ruuuunnnnnn awayyyyy from us and once, he went up a lift and was gone!

Luckily the lift only goes between ground level and 38th floor so up he went and back down. He sobbed for a while, remember the event for a week then he went back to be a runner. Major sigh!

On top of those 3, his ability to reason has doubled quadrupled. Meaning as of today he has zillions reasons to do or not to do something. I try my best to accept this skill as it shows that he uses his brain well BUT trying to counter his reasonings is interesting tiring. For example;

Me: Let’s clean up

Nathan: I don’t want to

Me: Why?

Nathan: Nadine will make mess again

Me: Then we’ll clean up again with Nadine

Nathan: I’m sleepy Mami.. and I need to pee *running away*

——–

Nathan: I want to draw

Me: There’s your paper (used calendar paper)

Nathan: Not that one

Me: Why? It’s blank paper

Nathan: This is September. I want October. Opa said now is October!

——–

And now that he’s fully toilet trained, he knows that going to the toilet is a reason. Correction, a deal breaker. For example, I don’t want to eat = toilet time. I don’t want to sleep = toilet time. I just want to go away = toilet time. Few times we rushed to the toilet and he said “oh.. I don’t want to pee” grrrrrrr *inhale exhale mama!!*

However, he has learned to love his baby sister better. He has started including Nadine in his playtime (instead of saying “this is mine!!”) He still has this sweet patience by letting Nadine pulling his hair. Hahaha.

He likes singing to Nadine and sees her dancing and clapping. He thinks Nadine is silly while Nadine thinks Nathan is hilarious. Of course all this lovey-dovey relaionship before either one snaps and ends the sweetness.

All this craziness ends when Phodi came home. I think my threenager was missing his dad. We did a LDR for 2 weeks and my boy was behaving real bad. Like a real teenager, he didn’t know how to express his feeling so he acted up.

Once daddy was back, I found my sweet little boy. I’m so glad that we’re back together now! I pray that the next few months my boy grows to be a terrific threenager, especially as we’ll be moving away. Eeekkkk.

Measles dan Rubella aka Campak dan Campak Jerman merupakan penyakit serius yang bisa menyebabkan radang paru, radang otak dan bahkan kematian. Tapi yang lebih menyedihkan, apabila seorang ibu hamil terpapar Rubella pada trimester pertama kehamilannya maka bisa mengakibatkan cacat pada janin. Kecacatan pada janin bisa berupa kelainan jantung, mata, pengapuran otak dan keterlambatan perkembangan.

Kampanye vaksin MR ini ditujukan untuk anak usia 9 bulan sampai 15 tahun. Bulan Agustus 2017 akan diberikan di sekolah setingkat SD dan SMP. Kemudian dilanjutkan di bulan September 2017 di sarana pelayanan kesahatan untuk anak lainnya. Vaksinasi MR ini diberikan GRATIS tanpa memandang status imunisasi sebelumnya. Artinya, bila anak anda sudah divaksinasi MR (atau MMR) sebelumnya maka vaksin MR ini dapat diberikan lagi.

Saat ini tidak ada obat untuk campak dan rubella TAPI penyakit ini bisa dicegah melalui imunisasi. Apakah anak yang divaksin masih bisa tertular? Masih tapi dampaknya tidak separah anak yang belum divaksinasi. Saya mengalami sendiri bahwa Nathan terkena campak saat berusia 20 bulan. Untungnya karena Nathan pernah diimunisasi campak, dampaknya gak separah anak kenalan saya yang kena campak sebelum divaksin. Saat itu Nathan hanya bintik-bintik merah sedikit di bagian punggung yang kita kira alergi seafood.

Saat Nathan kena campak, saya sedang hamil Nadine. Saran pertama dokter adalah untuk saya berjauhan sementara waktu dengan Nathan. Hiks.. sedih dan bingung banget waktu itu karena Nathan masih belom weaning. Setelah baca sana-sini tentang bahaya rubella pada janin, saya akhirnya meneguhkan hati untuk menitipkan Nathan di rumah Omanya. Pikiran saya cuma 1… untuk mencegah kerepotan yang lebih besar di masa depan. Kalau (amit-amit) janin saya kena rubella dan cacat, kita akan lebih sedih dan repot kan.

Di masa-masa sepi karena ditinggal Nathan, saya banyak baca tentang MR. Tiba-tiba saya dapat pencerahan bahwa saya pernah diimunisasi MR sekitar tahun 2009. Ceritanya begini… waktu itu saya kerja part-time di childcare (tempat penitipan anak) dan suatu hari muka saya bintik-bintik merah. Pergilah saya ke klinik kampus. Percakapannya kira-kira begini:

saya: Sus, saya bintik-bintik merah di muka dan gatal nih

nurse: Oh, kamu ada alergi?

saya: Enggak sih setau saya

nurse: Kamu ada kerjaan part-time?

saya: Saya kerja di childcare 3 minggu sekali

nurse: Oh… mungkin kamu kena virus dari anak kecil. Anak kecil tuh paling banyak penyakitnya. Udah pernah vaksin?

saya: Dulu sih ya waktu kecil

nurse: Kalo gitu sekarang saya suntik aja ya.

saya: …. *gak ada kesempatan nanya lagi*

Okelah.. jadi waktu itu saya disuntik MR karena si suster takut saya ketularan rubella. Ternyata setelah beberapa hari saya baru sadar kalo saya alergi sabun muka Aesop yang baru saya coba. Sadarnya karena setelah bentol-bentol kan saya berenti pakai trus beberapa hari langsung sembuh. Positif banget waktu itu gak kena campak tapi alergi oil-oil natural yang ada di Aesop. Hikmahnya buat saya, ternyata bener di dunia ini gak ada yang kebetulan. Vaksin yang dulu mungkin ada manfaatnya buat saya.

Sebenernya juga, awalnya gak berniat banget nulis tentang cerita ini apalagi ikut teriak-teriak soal kampanye vaksin MR. Tapi ternyata masih banyak orang yang pinter (sekolah sampai sarjana kan berarti pinter) dan yang punya uang (bisa beli kendaraan kan berarti punya uang) yang males mikir soal vaksin ini.

Saya bukan tipe yang nanya orang “Kalian vaksin anak-anak gak?” atau “Anaknya bobo sendiri gak?” karena menurut kita itu urusan masing-masing orang lah. Whatever works for you. Tapi kalo ada orang yang nanya, itu berarti kan pengen ditanya juga ya.. Hehehe.

Yah alkisah hal ini beberapa kali terjadi dan ya ampun… gak ngerti lagi kalo ada orang yang bilang dia gak vaksin anaknya karena “kita bukan yang tipe vaksin gitu deh” atau “gak usahlah.. suka ribet antri-antrinya jadi males”. Maaf ya, menurut saya itu jawaban orang super males. Untuk jawaban model pertama, kesannya anti-mainstream parents nih yeee. Padahal kemungkinan besar yang ngomong gitu tumbuh sehat karena dulunya rajin dibawa vaksinasi sama orang tuanya.  Untuk jawaban tipe kedua, tolong sadar kalau anda adalah pemalas. TITIK.

Udahlah gak mau panjang lebar sih tentang vaksin ini karena sebenernya pilihan untuk vaksinasi ya balik lagi ke orang tua. Hak anak adalah mendapatkan kesempatan untuk tumbuh sehat dan kuat yang terbaik… gimanapun versi orang tuanya.

Tapi untuk vaksin MR ini coba tolong dipikir-pikir lagi kalo gak rencana ngasih ke anaknya. Alasannya cuma 1: campak dan campak jerman bisa menular ke ibu hamil dan mengakibatkan si bayi cacat. Ibu hamil itu bisa mami, tante, mbak, suster di rumah sakit, guru sekolah minggu, guru ngaji, tetangga… jangan sampai keputusan anda untuk gak memvaksin anak mengambil kesempatan anak lain yang bahkan belum lahir.

Wheee I have conquered travelling solo with 2 kids! It was definitely a slow yet hectic and tiring but fun experience.

hello KL!

Last week we had the privilege to tag along Phodi for his work trip in Kuala Lumpur. The last time I visited KL was when Nathan was in my tummy 3 years ago (read more here). I was eager to go as it would be a good escape from the routine. Phodi said I was just moving the routine though. I was on a mission to prove him that he’s wrong! Haha.

my big baby koala

Our hotel was across the KLCC Park and Suria KLCC so it was an easy walk back and forth. The distance though… was another thing. It was a good 10 minutes walk which thankfully was underground. Otherwise I might stay in my nice and cool hotel room for the whole day.

So this is how I travelled with 2 kids:

this was us lounging in the hotel club before the airport pick-up. Baby on Ergo, toddler on the stroller. When baby’s awake, switch! I’ve said this before but to make a point, having your baby in an Ergo is life saving. Discreet nursing, sleeping and sight seeing all at one place. Very convenient.

Our agenda during the trip was sight-seeing / shopping in the morning, nap in the afternoon, dinner at the club.

our everyday view for breakfast and dinner

We went to the Aquaria KLCC which located behind our hotel. A quick 7 minutes walk from our room. Easy peasy. My favourite was seeing the turtles! Super adorable. Nathan’s favourite was… FISH! Jelly fish is a fish, nemo (aka clown fish) is a fish, sea horse is a fish. Hahaha. I think the aquarium was an ok.. but super worth the price because children under 3 are free. Meaning we only paid for 1 adult price for 3 people.

sharks

wowwww

Then we went to Suria KLCC to shop a bit. March is apparently time for Malaysia Big Sale so great timing! Their Mothercare was huuuuge and slightly cheaper than Indonesia’s. Moreover they’re having 40% sale. Nathan was busy playing in the ELC next door and I rushed to shop. The best purchase gotta be this Jellycat Bunny. So soft and cuddly.

chillin after a looong walk 

Of course I had to had Nando’s for lunch. I think we created a scene… our table was located near the service computer and having a fully awake baby (who just woke up after her aquarium nap) was like having an open invitation to chat and play. Nathan was obviously very happy with the attention and tried to talk to all the waiters.

nando’s my loveee

The next day we went to the playground at KLCC Park. The park was almost empty because it was a school day but Nathan enjoyed it regardless. Then we walked to Suria KLCC (again!) to pick up lunch and went to Kinokuniya. That pretty much summed up my travel with the kiddos. As for my own shopping, I did it when we had Phodi on the first and last night. Choose and grab everything quickly while help is here! Haha.

mandatory photo. Nadine was sleeping in the carrier

I can now confidently say that going out alone with 2 kids is ok. Just have to take things slowly and calmly… and all will be ok. A lot of humour will keep you sane too. Especially when both kids pooped and one even had a leaked diaper (which NEVER happened before!) It’s also worth noting that each child is different. Nathan was always a good flyer while Nadine.. was a cranky baby 2 out of 4 times she flew. She was overtired yet refusing to sleep so she became a monster baby. Hopefully she’ll get better as she gets bigger.

ice cream to beat the heat

As for now, I’m looking forward for our next trip at the end of the month! Woohooooo

My little sweethearts are 3 months and 30 months old now. My heart is full to the extent that I never knew exist.

At times I want to hide in the bathroom and isolate myself from the crying-whining-shouting baby and toddler combo. Unfortunately the more absence I am, the more demanding they become #lifeasamom I am fortunate to have a helper, even for just half a day, who I can trust with cooking and housework.

How’s life for the last month?

Nadine’s first car trip to Jakarta and first flight

Woooo… the flight was a horrible experience for us. Ever since we had kids, we always choose the national carrier but unfortunately it was a blah regardless. We took a mid-morning flight and were transferred by bus to the plane. (Anyways, anyone ever went through the airbridge on T3?) It was stuffy hot which made Nadine uncomfortable and so she cried. The flight was full and our seats were all over the plane. So I had no help and a crying inconsolable baby. Luckily once the plane started moving she’s fine and slept through the flight. Phew..

Nadine’s first Christmas

Nathan’s love for writing grows. I hope this will never stop (at least not when he’s still at school). He loves alphabets that he’s getting good at writing them. He still can’t write in sequence though so whenever he try to write longer words it will appear as “yllwoe” instead of “yellow” or “abll” instead of “ball” but he will spell them loud in the right order. lol.. oh well all is forgiven for the 1000 cuteness level

Nathan has learned how to show his love towards Nadine. Once he took Nadine’s book, laid down beside her and started reading. Major love that melted my heart.

Life goes on… and my baby continues to grow <3