the missing ears

Lately, Jovan often "lost" his ears.

This morning, when I was doing something I couldn't leave, I noticed Jovan was plucking tissues out of the box. He plucked a sheet, threw it on the floor, plucked another one, threw it on the floor, on and on like that till a heap of tissues (about a quarter of the box) was piled next to his feet. I asked him nicely to stop doing that, and he kept doing what he was doing without even glancing at me. He did not hear my voice even when I have started shouting.

He only stopped when I picked him physically, put him to stand near the wall for time-out while I picked the tissues on the floor. Looking at him standing quietly with innocent face, I couldn't get angry for long...

But yeah, that and other similar incidents have made me scrambling to find out the best (and working) method to discipline him nicely.

So far... no luck yet. Any advice? :)

coloring competition

Our cluster in Alam Sutera, Kirana, always have a bazaar in August to celebrate Indonesia's independence day. This year, they had a coloring and drawing competitions for kids. We did not register Jovan to join because he was way too small for the competition. The youngest age range is 4-5 years old for coloring. But when we saw Jovan looked interested, we asked him whether he wanted to join. He said he wanted to! So we paid Rp. 15,000.- and Jovan took part in his first competition.

He did his piece seriously. At first, I thought he would draw a car or something on that page because he never colored any picture before. He usually just drew and colored his own drawing. But apparently, he understood that he only had to color the picture.

He sat there for, well, maybe 10 or 15 minutes, until he was satisfied with his work.

Then he just got up when he considered his artwork done.

I think the dad, the uncle, the grandpa, or the aunts who came by once in a while took part in telling him to color the cloud blue or to use red for the flag. But, at least everything was done by him. Nobody expected him to win but we did enjoy one of the best moments. :)

trimming

The first time Jovan sat on his own, usually he sat on my lap.

The whole thing took about 20 minutes. He went cranky once the trimmed hair fell on his neck and got itchy. So the barber-lady had to stop and wait for me to apply baby powder on his body and talk him into sitting down nicely again to finish the cut.

Sigh! My baby is growing up so fast...

learning from a child

It's about three thirty in the afternoon. I brought Jove out to play on the grass in front of the house. We spent a considerably long time examining the rough texture of the grass (a little bit dry because of the hot afternoon sun, I supposed) and the warmth of the stone slabs.

I followed Jove's lead on what to do. We walked on the ticklish grass barefooted, we hopped from stone to stone, we sat down and pulled out some weeds that grew among the grasses, Jove pulled some grasses. The sky was blue, some birds flew above us. The soft breeze caressed our hair lovingly. I could be laying down in a field of green grass with colorful wild flowers and feel as happy as I was this afternoon.

One secret of happiness that I learned from Jovan is as simple as living every second of your day to the fullest. Well, I don't feel happy all the time and I may not remember this secret at all times, but for half an hour this afternoon, I was truly happy.

I did have some thoughts on what the neighbors would say looking at a mother and her son looking intently at grasses and stones while smiling cheerfully at each other. Err, well, that's another secret of happiness that the children possessed: do not care about what other people will think of you. Just enjoy what you do (and what you have) at the moment and be happy. That works for me this afternoon.

another trip to semarang

We had another trip to Semarang and Salatiga by bus. Jove was pretty cranky on the bus this time because he had a mild cold. In fact, the whole family except dad (two grandparents, three aunts, Jove, and me) caught the bug a few days before the trip. After the trip, everybody's health got worse, except Jovan (thankfully).

We departed on Thursday night, shortly after ten. I spent the whole night trying to sleep while cradling Jovan to sleep. He woke up several times and night and continuously asked for breastmilk. Both of my milk-tanks went dry by the time we reached Semarang at about one on Friday afternoon.

Jove was excited looking at his great-grandfather on the bus ride to Salatiga from Semarang and he got busy playing with great-grandpa's cane. Grandma was sleeping when we arrived, and when she woke up a few hours later, Jovan was sleeping. It happened the two times we went there, so Jovan didn't get to meet his great-grandma properly.

Saturday evening, hubby, Jovan, and I accompanied my grandpa back to Semarang in his car (with a driver). On the way, I thought a lot about my dear cousin, Rika, and whole day we've spent together in May. Miss you a lot, cousin dear! This trip will be more fun with you around. :)

Sunday morning, we headed back to Jakarta. Grandpa did not allow us to go back and made us stay for another two hours. We stopped to have lunch at a restaurant near the sea in Indramayu and look at how happy Jovan was! He was fascinated with the strong sea breeze and the waves. He kept on laughing while holding his hands up, trying to catch the wind. The water was brown and muddy and the scenery was not beautiful at all, but all he saw was the blue blue sky, the fresh breeze, and the sunny Saturday afternoon.


Grandpa introduced Jovan to the wet sand. It was not white nor clean, but Jovan and grandpa ignored those facts. He enjoyed the new texture of the wet sand and he was quite amazed when the waves licked his toes.


Children. Let them remind us of the simple beauty of this earth.

boys will be boys

Jove's pose when watching soccer or car race on TV. He can sit still and watch quietly for several minutes longer than if he watches or does anything else.

His favorite toys are cars, trucks, buldozers, helicopters, airplanes, ... you get the idea. And he has shown this keen interest on those things since he was about six months old! By twelve months, before he could walk, he could differentiate car, truck, and bus on the road. He'll say tar, tak, and bas (all rhymes with car) while pointing at correctly said vehicle.

I've read in some books that a child liked his/her gender related toys (boys like cars, and girls like dolls) just because the parents exposed him/her to those toys more. But I don't agree. I did gave Jovan some of my old dolls to play, showed him flowers and other girly things, but he didn't seem to be interested.

play grass

Grandpa put Jovan on the green grass one Saturday afternoon. Jove loves it! He would touch the grass, the dirts of the earth, and he would not be picked up by anyone.

one sunny sunday

We were invited to swim in one aunt's condominium one Sunday morning. Jovan had a lot of fun with one great aunt, three aunts, one uncle, two cousins (and their two babysitters), daddy, mommy, cold clear water, bowls of spaghetti, slices of yummy bread, sweet ice cocktail, and a basketful of peanuts.

Actually posted on 31/07/07

ONE year old celebration

If we were to have three sons... it would take ages to have a proper family picture. Hee hee. All of them just could not sit still.

Serpong, Tangerang - 1 July 2007

happy birthday Jovan

I woke up at about 2 a.m. because of the mosquitos. Found (and killed) six in the room (Yikes!).

Exactly one year ago, I was being stitched while Jovan was kicking and crying a few meters away. Hubby was busy snapping pictures and admiring his new son. The first year seemed to pass faster than the first month. Jovan is a year old already!

I took the camera and snapped this pic.


After one year, I can only vaguely remember the labor pain, but I vividly remember the euphoric joy that little boy brought. We named him Jovan Octavio, roughly means a delightful abiding place of God. His initials would be J.O.Y. and that was what we would like him to bring constantly in his heart.

I feel honored to be trusted with a soul to tend, feel blessed to be given such a cheerful boy, and... well, my vocabulary is really limited to express what I feel but I'm sure you, mothers out there, know what I mean. I'm also excited imagining the years to come. :)

Meanwhile, I take it as an achievement that I can be a mom for a year and my son is still alive, kicking, healthy, and happy. Hehehe. :) I guess, as a friend said, the first birthday is more for the parents to celebrate their [successful] first year as parents. :)

P.S. For comparison, this was one year ago. Taken when I let my very sleepy hubby (who's going to work in a while) took a short nap on my hospital bed at about 5 a.m. It would be really nice if he were the one who actually gave birth, wouldn't it?

morning walk

One of our morning ritual whenever we stayed in my parents' house (and the weather permits) is a walk together around the housing complex. Jove will either be in my arms, in the stroller, or like today, in his tricycle.

I love the warmth of the morning sun, the golden hues of the rays on the green leaves and grasses, the chirping of the birds, the cool morning air, and the excitement in Jove's face.

Thank God for the mornings.

still with cold

Boo hoo. Jove still suffer from cold and no sign of getting better. He's still cheerful, playful, and active as usual... but his nose is often blocked when he sleeps. We are hoping (and praying) hard that he will be fully recovered this week as we will fly to Singapore next week.

Hubby is currently on a business trip to China and I stayed with mom and sisters. Jove loves it here, being adored by so many women everyday. Hee hee.

sweet recovery

Three of us are just recovered from cold. Yay.

Husband and I had cold since Good Friday. The packed weekend made us worse and little Jove caught the bug on Tuesday. Thanks to his good immune system, his cold was mild and he was recovered on Wednesday night. But these two days and nights have been tough for us. Jove is also teething at the moment (I suspected major teething involving more than two teeth), and the cold made him uncomfortable sleeping. So he woke up often during the night and twice he cried loudly for five minutes, both of us tried everything to calm him to no avail. During the day, he wouldn't sleep lying down, even after being bribed with yummy breastmilk. He only slept in the sling with me singing and swaying around. Even after he was fast asleep in the sling, he would wake up if I put him down. *sigh* I finally gave in and let him sleep as much as he wanted in the sling while I did my stuff.

Jove is also extremely clingy when he is teething. I'm looking forward for brighter tomorrow...

blue blue sky

Glorious Sunday morning! The three of us went for a morning walk and enjoyed it immensely.


So the disciples went and did as Jesus had told them. They brought the donkey and the colt, then they laid their cloaks on their backs and he took his seat on them. Great crowds of people spread their cloaks on the road while others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in his path. The crowds who went in front of him and those who followed were all shouting:

Hosanna to the son of David!
Blessed is he who is coming in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heavens!

Matt. 21:6-9

jovan - 9 months

Jove grew so much hair in the last month.


I can even style his hair.


Afro. :)


Okay, this was my attempt to see Jove with hair. Ha ha.


Anyway, hubby smsed me in the morning, "Today Jove is 1.5 years old." I replied that he made a mistake in typing.

Hubby said that Jove has been with us for 1.5 years. 9 months in the womb, 9 months outside.



Definitely the best 1.5 years in our life.

mama, mama, mama

He had said it pretty often in these three days as an attempt to call for help.

:D

cute cute goddaughter

My goddaughter and her mom just visited me! Oooh, the most awaited event of the month! :)

Rielle is a super cute-cute-smart-smart little girl. I didn't get to see her often, so I was always amazed with her growth every time I saw her. The smartest kid for her age I've met so far! So proud of her. He he he. So proud of her mommy too. :)

And silly me, I forgot to take picture!!!!! I've recharged the camera, prepared it on the table, and forgot to use it altogether in the excitement of meeting them.

If you read this, Rielle's mommy, please remind me to take picture the next time we meet. :)

gong xi fa cai

a painful episode

Someone bit me while I was feeding him! Ouch, ouch, ouch!

My mom told me to pinch his tiny nose when he bit, I did just that, but he bit even harder and pulled away (still biting), resulting a bloody blister that stained my pad.

Not too big blister, but the pain lasted for a good two days. Partly because of the engorgement, then because I fed him again with the still-blistered-bitten breast at night.

I found this inside the medicine cupboard, from Mom's friend on her pilgrimage. I like to use this better than the nursing cream.

Unbelievable as it may seem, this is the culprit:

flood

Jakarta is flooded. Badly.

My in-laws' house is flooded up to an adult's thigh and they spent the almost the whole of Friday in the car trapped in a very bad traffic jam on their way to a relative's house. My father and almost everyone else could not work on Friday. My husband went to work in the morning, but went home shortly after because the water level was rising everywhere.

There were thousands that lost their homes, stranded with wet clothes and no food on the rooftops. Some lost their family members in the flood. Today, most of them started to get sick. Thousands of people also trapped in their houses with no clean water and electricity since Friday. The clean water and electricity were cut off in the flooded area to prevent water pollution and possible short disaster. Today, my sister-in-law and her family moved to stay in a nearby hotel. With two children under three, it was a wise precaution.

These past three days, watching the news about the flood gave me weird kind of feelings. I'm thankful that all of us are alive and healthy, can live well with clean water, electricity, and enough food. I'm horrified and sad knowing about those poor people losing their homes and cars and belongings. My heart's gone to pieces looking at those sick children and babies in the measly shelters. But I'm also slightly glad that my husband is at home and not working.

For precaution, we're staying in my parents' place again. My sister just got an sms tonight, informing that her lab session was canceled and those who has found the kutu beras (rice flea or rice bug?), for the experiment, should try to keep them alive till next week.