Going to Europe (for the 2nd time)

This time, to the land of the pasta, yay!

ps. details of the visa is crossed out for security reasons obviously :P

Wishing You ....

A Very Merry Christmas!!!

Felicia, at 14 Months and 2 weeks...

Felicia now can walk without any assitance...as a matter of fact, she often refused any assistance (I'll try to post pictures of her refusing us holding her hand, but it's difficult as it's not always the case...).  In the past few weeks, she has shifted from crawling a lot / prefer to crawl, to walk a lot.  and I mean A LOT.  

Unfortunately, Felicia is also currently at the stage when she loves to...hit other kids...hhhh... 

I was worried at first that bigger kids would bully her, but apparently it's the other way around...her MO would be she'd spy on other kids (sometimes grown up too), watching them intently, then walking (a bit unsteadily sometimes) at them, watching intently again....then SMACK!!!  She'd hit them!  

Last Saturday we took her to Gramedia Book Store, and the first (and only successful attempt that night) victim is a girl around 2 years old who's held by her father.  At first Felicia showed innocent interest, so her nanny brought her closer, attempting to introduce her to the girl.  The girl extended her hand on encouragement from her dad, and Felicia accepted the proposed handshake excitedly....then, without further ado...SMACK!!! she hit her square on her chest!!!!!

I apologized profusely to the dad and dragged Felicia away...

She spotted other kids and always went after them, but we know better now and we let her get close but out of reach...

Then on Sunday we took her to Tunjungan Plaza, and while waiting for the food to arrive in DOME cafe, I brought her to GAP Kids store, and with the  merry Christmas songs playing, my daughter started to dance!  She'd lift her hands and moved her lil body!! too bad I didn't bring any camera...

After the meal (during which she eyed the couple next to us so intently that they could not help smiling and the guy attempted to impress the girl by being friendly to Felicia -- cute but a bit embarrasing for me...), we took her for a haircut..

I met my highschool's friend Mega and her son, and her son saw my daughter cried and he started crying too...At first Felicia didn't cry, she was curious with the mini-car in Kiddy Cuts, but once she felt her hair cut, she's starting to cry, I tried to make her feel better by holding her...but it just didn't work.  10 minutes and Rp. 85,000.00 later, we left the place ( I later on found out that the cut wasn't even and I had to fix it myself...but not too bad...).

Then we took her to Sogo on Children clothes and Toys floor to cheer her up....that's when she met another victim...we thought what happened on Saturday was isolate incident, but boy we're wrong...

This girl (around 2 -3 years old) was standing next to Felicia, interested at what Felicia's playing (a mini Keyboard), when Felicia approached her and suddenly her left hand pinching the girl and her right hand (to the girl's and my terror), pulled her tank top down!!!!  The girl looked terrified and stared at me pleadingly...  

Again, I apologized to her (though I doubted she understood me) and her nanny...Thank GOD her mom's not around!!!

After that, we took her for a bit grocery shopping, and nearing the end of it, she suddenly hold her tummy and said, "Ek!"....usually, this is a sign that she wants to poop...so we're quite nervous and speed everything up, but we still have to wait for the credit card transaction to be completed and when she became impatient, she started to yell "EK!!!"...

We rushed out of the place, but on the way home, she started to cry...I offered her some drinks but she refused, pointing instead at her pacifier...so I gave it to her and she fell asleep immediately....!!  

She didn't poop though, I suspect she just want to go home because she's tired and saying Ek! is the only way she can draw our attention ... but Ming disagreed...

On Monday, when my mom asked her, "Felicia, mana potong rambutnya?"  She would point at her new hairdo!  what a smart lil girl! She also said new words such as "Addoohh!!" (copying Ming), "Apa seh?"  (I don't know if she really understands the meaning of it's just a random baby talk, though).   She also called Ming's nanny as "Nenek!"

She understands instruction such as "Felicia, Melet nya mana?" One of her grandmoms taught her that, "Felicia, ayo main mata!" and she'd blink her eyes couple of times....

If I asked her, "Felicia, Mbak Dina yang mana?"  She'd point out my new maid Dina, but she only recognized the other maid as "Mbak".

Anyway, yesterday Felicia and Ming and I spent a good hour playing with her...we got her a lot of colorful plastic balls that she loved to throw, but afterwards, she's also cooperating well when I encourage her to put the them back...

We're still looking for the right school for her...one of my friend suggested Baby Smile near our house...I guess we have to check it soon...

Felicia's "Cece"

So last month (or two months ago?) I got a fake Chinese made Japanese anime doll as you can see pictured here that I left on the nightstand of my bed. Felicia calls the doll "Cece".....

Hidden Gems...

So yesterday I did clean up my cupboards and drawers...

And here's some of the things I found (the list does not include coins/bank notes from two days ago):

• 3 pieces of 18K Gold Jewely each with average weight of 3GR
• USD $5 (bank note) 
• SGD $2 (bank note)
• HKD $33 (coins)
• KRW 550 (coins)
• SGD $6.85 (coins)
• UAE Dirham 4.5 (coins)
• A couple of Turkish Lira coins
• Rp. 132,500 in coins of 500, 200, 100, 50

Fascinating!

Good Morning!

Kemarin akhirnya ku bersih bersih laci meja riasku....it took longer than expected, tapi memang dicicil mulai dari jam 9:30 pm sambil nonton DVD House Bunny...

Dari total 4 laci, sampah nya menuhi 2 tong sampah! hehehehee....as expected, so many rubbish...credit card bills from a year ago, restaurant receipts from TWO years ago, expired credit card/membership cards account statments from months ago, the hotel receipt of Omni Saigon Hotel from last May... Disneyland entrance tickets from three years ago which I originally planned to keep but now failed to see why and decided to throw them away...

But, I also did find some treasures...about SGD$60, some Turkish Liras, few Vietnamese Dong, hospital receipt from when I gave birth to Felicia, USG pictures of Felicia when she's just appeared as a dot on the screen...Felicia's blood category card which was taken shortly after she's born...(A+, same as me!), ...Ming's junior highschool, senior highschool ID Cards... (OMG He looks SO SO SO SO CUTEEEEE!!!!!!) ... and...my Allianz Investment Card, which is one of the benefit from the previous company I worked for.  I realized that I still have a very small amount of fund left there (around Rp. 300 rb in 2004), and mentioned that it'll expire in 2036 with my younger sister as beneficiary!  I even forgot I named her my beneficiary!! ahahahaha....

Anyway, I finished the clean up around midnight, but I still have some cupboards and more drawers to clean today...

I woke up around 5:30 this morning, helped sweeping the floors of my living/family room until 6:00 am, then Felicia woke up and I played with her for 15 minutes while her nanny took a shower.  

She's a real fast learner...I told her, "Felicia, be careful ya....nanti jatuh"  and she said, "ja tuh!"  she's copying almost everything she heard, Wak!! (from when my mom called my dad by his first name) Cin!! (from when I told my mom that if Felicia heard her Nai Nai called her Yei Yei by his first name, "Cin!" then Felicia would copy her; of course as soon as I shut my mouth, Felicia said, "Cin!") Maem! Yei Yei! No no no no! 

Then of course, if I said,"Felicia cannnnn...."  She would continue "thikkkk!"

And if I said, "Felicia naa....." She would say "Khall!" Then I'd say, "Lho, Felicia Nakal ya?" to which she'd reply "GAK!" ihihihii....

My mom also loves to trick her, saying, "Felicia anak'e Bo..." "Bo!"....but then if I remind her by asking "Felicia anake sapa?"  then she'd answer right away "Papa!"  Oh yeah, she can also said, "Tiek Tiek! "  (it's how she called my dad)

Hm...got carried away...I should have shared stories about my morning...hehehe...

Anyway, after her nanny's done, aku mulai ngelap-ngelap meja rias, bedside tables, meja TV di kamar, some statuettes, my favorite Lladro's pair of dove, which is one of my favorite wedding gifts, photo frames...

Then around 6:30, ko Ming woke up, so I can tidy up the bed (he helped! OMG!), then took a shower, got ready, and sweeping up the floor...

Oh, and today, my mom's friend, who's a Domestic Helper agent, lend one of the TKW for me until the end of this month (in January she'll go to Taiwan).  My mom drove her to my house, and the first thing she said when she met me is, "Cao An, Ce!"...I was like, wth?!!!!!

Anyway, it's just temporary, but was kinda pleasantly surprised...especially when we're going and I told her, "Dyna, pergi dulu ya, ati ati dirumah..." and she said, "Xiao Xin, Ce!"  and I was dumbfounded...what is Xiao Xin????  

My nanny laughed like nuts and told her, "Nonik e itu ngomong jowo-an!" huahuahuaa...so embarrased, but I manage to say a weak Thanks, and told her to teach my nanny and speak with my baby Chinese!!!!

I'm so pathetic huh?

Anyway, today as I said, I plan to clean some more parts of the cupboards/drawers...and tomorrow, I want to wake up half an hour early...who knows...I may be able to do some sports!!! hahahahaha......

Well, honestly, I felt better the past couple of days, having to wake up early and did some physical activities...I felt more refreshed, and though the first 15 minutes in the office I was sleepy, at least I didn't feel exhausted as I always did...isn't it interesting?

Oh well, gotta go back to work now...

Ibu Rumah Tangga....

Dua hari terakhir ini aku nggak ke kantor, tapi tinggal di rumah sama Felicia...

Ceritanya, Senin kemarin sekitar jam 11 pagi, aku telpon rumah, tanya kabarnya Felicia.  Susternya kasih tau kalo Felicia ternyata agak panas...waktu itu ko Ming Ming di Jakarta, jadi aku pulang ke rumah untuk ngecek dia...

Ternyata badannya yang panas, kepala, tangan, kaki-nya gak papa.  

Nah, waktu aku lagi sama Felicia dan susternya...pembantuku Kabur!!! Dua duanya lagi...

Aku gak tau ada masalah apa...padahal aku juga jarang dirumah...mereka bilang ke salah satu drivernya kalo mereka gak kerasan karena sering disuruh bersi'in kotorannya anjing sama bersiin jamban yang baru dipake Felicia...which is completely ridiculous....

Biasanya kalo Felicia poop di jamban itu, yang bantuin bersiin itu Suster-nya ko Ming Ming...dan masalah anjing, biarpun mereka kadang bantu, the one who did the most juga Suster-nya ko Ming Ming...Lagian lho, kalo mereka memang gak kerasan, ya ngomong toh...

Anyway, I don't want to go to details...but let's just say luckily, semua perhiasan en uang masih lengkap (akhir akhir ini di Surabaya sering ada kasus pembantu ngerampok rumah pas majikannya gak ada)

Sekarang aku denger cerita kalo tiap sabtu siang dia suka masukin pacarnya (pernah kepergok sekali pacaran jam 1:30 PAGI!) , terus dua pembantu ku itu suka tidur tiduran di kamarku habis bersiin!!! (gak di ranjang sih...tapi kan tetep ae...so freaky!!)...

Anyway, kemarin Felicia masih belum baikan, malah ditambah diare ringan...ya sudah, aku tinggal dirumah...nah karena pembantunya cuman satu (dipinjami mama), aku ikut bantu bantu bersih rumah...jadi aku nyapu, ngepel, en lap-lap ruang tamu, ruang keluarga, kamar tamu, kamar tidurku, sama kamar gantiku...

en, though I still have a nanny and Ming's nanny, and one (borrowed) maid....let's just say I have new appreciation for those of you abroad who has to do these by yourself...

Sekarang aku gak bisa naruh barang geletakan lagi, karena ntik aku harus bersi'in sendiri...terus juga biasane bangun tidur, mandi, langsung kekantor, sekarang bangun tidur bersih ruang tamu sebentar (maksudnya naruh gelas/piring kotor di dapur, buang sampah, kembaliin barang-barang yang geletakaan dari malam sebelumnya)...terus mandi.

Habis aku mandi, rapiin ranjang, siap siap ke kantor, terus nyapu...habis gitu aku minta kamarku di pel en sambil nunggu pembantuku selesai, aku main-main sebentar sama Felicia.  

Tapi mulai besok mungkin harus bangun lebih pagi soale aku mesti lap- lap dulu ...

anyway, the point is, aku mau pas aku berangkat itu kamarku sudah bersih en rapi jadi bisa dikunci.  kapok aku.  dua pembantu terakhir ternyata hobi istirahat dikamarku!  pembantu yang sebelumnya denger denger suka nyobain make up ku! iewww!!! untung lipstick yang aku pake ta bawa sama aku.  Sedang lipstick ku sama lipgloss/lip balm seng lain langsung aku buang...

Anyway...benernya sih, aku gak begitu keberatan bersih in kamarku sendiri...as a matter of fact, I kinda enjoy it... God knows I could use some more physical activities...

Hari ini Felicia pas ta tinggal wes baikan...tapi katane dokter e, antibiotiknya harus diminum sampe habis...obat diare nya sudah ta berhenti kan, en besok obat panasnya berhenti...

Ntik malem aku mesti bersih bersih laci...huahuahuaa...terlalu banyak kertas kertas gak ke pake yang berjubelan hihihi...

oh well, a lil bit variation of our mundane life is always good ...

New Word!

Kemarin Emak-nya Felicia dateng dari Jakarta, beliin Felicia banyak baju baru sama sandal baru...

Terus kita kasih tau Felicia, "Felicia, tuh dibeliin Emak baju baru ... bagus yaaa....Hayo, Felicia ngomong apa ?  bilang Shie-Shie Mak..." Eh, the lil one langsung bilang "Se-Shek" hihihi....

Pintar ya anak mama!

Felicia's 1st Christmas Tree!

Actually, this is not Felicia's 1st Christmas...but last year she's still to young at 2.5 months and we only have a small tree in a pot...But this year seems right to introduce her to the lights and ornaments and so on...

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Thy leaves are so unchanging;
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Thy leaves are so unchanging;
Not only green when summer's here,
But also when 'tis cold and drear.
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Thy leaves are so unchanging!

so unchanging?  probably coz it's plastic!

Felicia...in the Morning

Tadi pagi jam 5:30 ke kamar nya Felicia...hoping that she's still sleeping and when she woke up, she'd see me first...hehehee....curang ya, padahal malem gak tidur bareng kita....

Aku jek nguantuk soro, jadi ya tidur tidur-an...eh, gak ada lima menit, aku denger suara-suara dibalik mosquito net-nya...en as I woke up, she also woke up at the same time...terus dia senyum senyum seneng liat aku...hihihi...

Habis gitu, ngajak Felicia keluar kamar, en diluar pas Susternya lagi nyuci botol-botol susunya di wastafel.  Eh, langsung Felicia bilang, "Cak ya" atau Shua Ya (kalo gak salah tulisane), yang artinya "sikat gigi..." hihihihi....

Memang sih satu minggu terakhir ini sudah mulai ngajari Felicia sikat gigi, awalnya cuman pake air minum, tapi terus sekarang sudah pake pasta gigi Switzal yang kalo ketelen gak papa.  Pasta gigi rasa Strawberry yang akhirnya jadi seneng dimakan sama Felicia hehehehe....

Terus aku siap siap buat kerja...

Habis gitu, pas mau berangkat, pas lagi cerita cerita ambek suster e, suster e ketawa (Suster e itu kalo ketawa lumayan medheni, kaya mak lampir hihihi....), eh, si Felicia yang ta gendong lansung bilang "Kage(t)!" t-nya gak seberapa kedengeran...

Suster nya cerita lagi, "Iya Nik, tadi saya dijiwit Felicia, duh sakit-nya, saya pura-pura nangis, eh, gak taunya si Felicia bilang 'Ais-ais!' lah iya, kok pinter ngomong sekarang" Aku yang liat Felicia lagi digendong sama susternya langsung tanya ke Felicia, "Felicia, yang ais-ais sapa?" Felicia langsung nunjuk ke Susternya....

Aku tanya lagi, "Lho, Felicia, yang nakal sapa?"  Eh, nunjuk Susternya lagi!

Anak Papa pinter yaaa!

Hiiii...LUCUNYA.....

Learning something new....

Kemarin Felicia belajar baru lagi!  

Kalo ditanya "Felicia, Papa ker.... " langsung dijawab "ja!"

Terus dilanjutin, "Mama ker...."disautin "ja!"

Terus dibilangin lagi, "Felicia di ru...."dijawab "mah!"

She learns that in a day!!!  

Oh, terus kemarin itu pas pulang dari kantor, Felicia kan liat ko Ming Ming di depan kamarnya, dia langsung manggil, "Koko!!!" Lho kok?! hm....biasanya memang sih dia selalu dengar mamanya kalo manggil papanya itu "Koko!".... wah kayanya mesti hati hati nih....

Satu lagi yang lucu, beberapa hari kemarin, Ko Ming Ming bilang sama Felicia, "Felicia, katanya suka jiwit ya, gimana sih njiwitnya?"  Terus sama Felicia LANGSUNG ko Ming Ming di jiwit; bukan sembarang jiwitan, jiwitannya dia itu (karena jarinya yang mungil) kecil kecil dan suka mlintir mlintir....sakittttt!!

Nah, kemarin itu, gak tau kenapa Ko Ming Ming dijiwit lagi sama Felicia, terus pura-pura nangis...Terus mamanya Felicia iseng, bilang "Tuh ...Felicia, papa nangis tuh....[The lil one looking at her dad intently]...Eh Felicia, papa kalo nangis gimana?" Eh, si Felicia langsung jawab sambil cengengesan "Hu..hu..hu..."  dan sampe sekarang, kalo ditanya, "Felicia, papa kalo nangis gimana?" dia mesti jawab "Hu...hu...hu..." HUAHUHAUHAUHUA....

hhhh....With the rate that she's going, learning new things, copy cat-ing everything we said (at least tried to)...I really would have to send her to a nursery school soon....

So Far...

Felicia is Thirteenth month and three weeks young...She is currently 9.1 and still 70cm tall...

Benere kapanari itu sudah hampir 10KG, tapi sejak sakit pilek terus batuk dari Minggu kemarin, rada kurusan dikit...

On her motoric development:

• Felicia sekarang sudah bisa jalan sendiri, gak dibantu, tapi mesti dibujuk en dirayu dulu baru mau; dia lebih suka milih jalan gampang en langsung crawling atau langsung nyari jari telunjuknya papa/mama/suster/bobo buat pegangan en terus jalan.  
• Jari-jari mungilnya bukan cuman bisa mbentuk angka satu (kaya nunjuk), tapi sekarang juga bisa dua (jari telunjuk dan jari tengah)
• Menurut laporan suster en Nai Nai -nya, Felicia sudah bisa masukkan buah ke kantong plastik, terus dikeluarin lagi.  
• Felicia sudah bisa pake Kamera!! iya, karena keseringan liat mama en papa ambil fotonya Felicia terus nunjukin hasilnya, dia sudah bisa teken teken tombol untuk liat foto-foto sebelumnya
• Suka ngrebut apa aja yang dipegang papa/mama.  Jadi Awalnya papa megang kamera, dia pasti ngrebut, terus mama megang telpon, kameranya ditinggal telponnya diambil dari tangannya mama.  Terus papa ganti megang iPod Touch, langsung telponnya dibuang iPod Touch nya diminta.  Terus mama baca majalah iPodnya ditaruh majalahnya direbut.
• Sudah mulai buka tutup laci laci en lemari lemari.  
• Kalo dua tangannya penuh terus ditawari barang lain, sudah bisa pass one object from one hand to the other
• Kalo susternya bukain karpet gulungnya tapi belum terbuka sepenuhnya, dia langsung ngelurusin ujung yang tergulung en dudukin bekas gulungannya.  
• Sudah bisa geleng kepala sambil bilang "Emoh!" kalo memang emoh.

On her new vocabs 

Tambahan kata-katanya lumayan lho minggu minggu terakhir ini,

• dia bisa ngomong "kakak" kalo lagi pengen dinyanyiin lagu "Burung Kakaktua",
• bisa bilang "Iya" karena biasanya kalo manggil "Papa!" sama papanya disauti "Iya?"  jadi sekarang sukanya bilang "Papa! Iya!"
• kadang manggil papanya "koko!" karena denger mamanya manggil gitu
• bisa bilang "Mbak!" kalo manggil pembantunya, "Sus!" kalo manggil susternya.  Kadang kalo lagi pengen nggarai mamanya, dia juga panggil "Mbak" ke mamanya, tapi terus setelah dicuekin sama mama, baru panggil "Mama!" sambil nyengir...
• bisa bilang "Nei-nei!" kalo manggil Maminya Ko Ming ming
• bisa bilang "Bobok!" alias Bobo nya (mamanya mama)
• bisa bilang "Kaa!" kalao liat Car (mobil)
• bisa bilang "Fish!" kalao liat ikan di kolam

On her additional knowledge

• Kalo ditanyai "Erduo nya mana?" bisa nunjuk Telinga
• Kalo ditanyai "Zhui Ba nya mana?" langsung Mulutnya dikecap kecap
• Kalo ditanyai "Bi Zi / umbel / upil nya mana?" langsung Hidung nya ditunjuk
• Kalo ditanyai "Felicia yang mana?" nunjuk dirinya sendiri
• Kalo liat suster / mamanya ngambil tissue langsung nangis, soalnya tau hidungnya mau dibersihkan, terus langsung geleng geleng sambil bilang "emoh!"
• Kalo ditanyai, "Yang cantik mana?" langsung nunjuk fotonya!

Felicia paling suka....Lihat kaca!! sambil senyum senyum ...  

I got a feeling narcisstnya ngalahin I'ie Vini en Auntie Sheila.....hhhhhh....

Oh, and additional info for Aunt Sheila, Felicia currently has 6 teeths...yeah, she's a bit late in that area...(but with her current tendency to bite when the least expected, it's kind of blessing in disguise...)