Meeting family...

We have just returned from a week in Gerringong where I met all my family. I was able to play with my cousins - Eleana and Katey who live in Sydney and I also met my other cousins Molly and Eva who I haven't seen since I was three days old! It was nice to see them all again and we played at the beach and in the sand and we had a bath together - it was great fun! I was the youngest and the only guy but they all treated me nicely! We watched movies together, I particularly like Nemo and Bob the builder, and we read lots and lots of books together which was great!

We had our family Christmas which was really nice. We had a big baked dinner and then we all gave out presents to each other - I excited I did a little dance whenever I got a new present! It was exciting to have a christmas with the whole family together!

At the beach I also developed a taste for sand! Dad kept on trying to stop me but it was just too tasty! I had good solid poos for the rest of the week!

Now I like to try to say everyone's name before I go to sleep and when I wake up in the morning so I don't forget them. I also like saying "Beeeech" with an ascending pitch - mum often laughs because she thinks it sounds like another word but I don't know that word yet...

Tess and Maws

Mum disappeared on Saturday and went away with Aunty Tess because she had to get ready for her wedding with Maws (Mawson). Mum was a maid of honor and was dressed in a lovely green dress. When Tess came in she looked beautiful and I kept on saying "Teeeessss!" and "Maawwws!" (in an ascending tone) over and over again, if you watch the video you can hear it clearly! They had a wonderful wedding at Waterslea on the Shoalhaven River near Nowra. Everyone had a great day and I played with all my cousins and friends. Mum looked very pregnant but managed to get through the day without being sick, she even did a short run when the photographer asked the bridal party to run forgetting that mum was pregnant! I went to sleep before the end, but they tell me that Tess and Maws did a special dance together that was really special.

home!

Over the last few weeks we have had a chaotic time packing and sorting and cleaning and saying goodbye to all our friends and at last we have arrived back in Aus. It is a bit strange as there are so many new people and they all have funny accents and no one pinches my cheeks any more. We left Bandung at 8:30am in the morning and then travelled to Jakarta and spent a day playing with Auntie Esther. We then drove to the airport and jumped on the plane at 10:30 at night - I was so tired and we were given 5 seats so I was able to lie out across the seats and fell asleep. That was all good until about 2am when I rolled off the seat and landed on the floor! Dad then put me to sleep on the floor and i slept there until the air hostess noticed me and got dad in trouble! We eventually got into Aus about 7:30am Aus time (about 3:30 Indo time!) We then spent 2 hours lined up trying to get through customs!
Nanny met us as was smiling and crying when she saw us. I then ate McDonalds for breakfast - I like hotcakes and milkshakes! We travelled to Wollongong and are staying in a friends house for the next three weeks before we move to another house and then to another house - it will be nice to meet everyone and play - look forward to seeing you!

Flying lessons gone wrong!

On Saturday we had a big outing to buy some things we needed in preparation to go home and on the way home I was really tired and fell asleep for about 20 minutes before we got home. Dad then transferred me to the cot, but I decided that I wanted to get out, so somehow I managed to climb the fence of my cot and jumped out landing headfirst on the floor – flapping my wings didn’t seem to help! Mum and dad were just outside and heard the thump and ran in to find me sprawled on the floor!

 

I was still really tired and wanted to go back to sleep again, but after about 20 minutes of being asleep I really started howling and then Mum and Dad  thought something was wrong, Dad was thinking cracked skull or brain damage! When mum tried to move my right arm to put a shirt on, I really cried because I couldn’t move it!

 

Mum and dad quickly rang for a taxi who said they would be here in five minutes. So mum and dad carried me up to the meeting point – our neighbors were all very concerned (about 5 minutes walk from our house), we then waited for about an hour for the taxi to come, and every time we rang up they said 5 more minutes. Eventually another taxi company dropped someone off and we jumped in the taxi. The taxi driver didn’t believe I was sick because I wasn’t crying or anything like that. When we eventually got to the hospital, I got an x-ray and cried a lot, mum wasn’t allowed in because of baby, so she had to wait outside and was crying too! The x-ray showed that I broken my collar bone – fortunately the break wasn’t too severe that I needed an operation, but I has to be strapped up for 2 weeks and can’t have a real bath.

 

When we got home all our neighbors were freaking out, and they couldn’t understand how I could possibly fall because they hold their children non stop until they are about 3 years old, and sleep in the same bed with them until they are about 6  – so in their eyes mum and dad have become the worst parents in the world – I still think they are okay! At the moment I am doing okay and getting around alright although he is being very careful with his arm. I am enjoying playing with my friends and mum is giving me whatever I want to eat which is great – I must have consumed packets and packets of biscuits! The doctor said I should be all better in 2 weeks – I wonder if mum will still give me as many chocolate biscuits!

 

Mum's big bath

On Friday the 7th of September mum did something very strange! She stripped to her underwear, wrapped herself in a sarong and was bathed in front of our house in full view of a big crowd of spectators!

This event is the Sundanese version of a baby shower called a tujuh bulanan (7 months celebration). Basically this is what happened. Our helpers, along with some of our neighbors, spent the whole day cooking and preparing food for the neighbors like fried chicken (ayam goreng) and yellow rice (nasi kuning) and a special food called rujak, which is a mixture of seven types of vegetables which are sweet, sour, hot, and salty in flavour.

The event started about 3:30 in the afternoon and was lead by a local lady who is called a praraji (a traditional midwife). Mum had to go into the bathroom and come out wrapped in a sarong, she tried to wear a t-shirt, but they sent her back in the toilet to take the t-shirt off. Mum also invited some teachers from language school who have experience in this type of thing. One of them gave a short talk from Psalm 139 and another prayed for mum, they seemed quite well received by all the people who are not believers. They also helped mum avoid some of the rituals which we were not too sure about. One involves a little mirror, a piece string, and a little knife all used to ward off evil spirits - mum didn't do that part.

We then went out the front of our house where mum sat on a little stool and a whole crowd of people surrounded our little house. She then had water poured on her seven times by seven different people, and the water had been collected from seven different wells in the area. Dad gave her the first washing, and then mum had to put on a new sarong. When she had a new sarong on, someone else washed her until she had been washed by 7 people and had changed the sarong 7 times. The water was mostly warm, until the last one where she was washed in cold water that contained 7 types of flowers of seven colours and the water also contained a fish! Dad was meant to catch the fish but he wasn't quick enough! The idea is that the birth will be something like a slimy fish - smooth!

After all the washings mum went inside to get dried up a bit and then dad had to chop a coconut with a machete. Dad had to draw a face of either a boy or a girl on the coconut and then chop in one go! After all this we sold the rujak to all the children and visitors, they loved it! After all that we ate dinner together. It was an amazing experience, I can't wait to meet my little adik (Indo term for younger sibling).

Hari Merdeka

Today we had a big celebration for the independence of our country. The actual date of independence is the 17th of August, but the celebration was held on the Sunday the 19th because the 17th fell on a Friday and people wanted to pray more than have a party!

The celebrations actually were going all weekend with some events on Friday and videos and music being shown at the local volleyball field every night. On Sunday we joined in a big parade which marched around the neighborhood. Each section of the community had built a small replica house which they filled with food and carried around the neighborhood, dancing and singing and when they finished the route they all ate food together. It was great fun, with loads of music and dancing. There were also many strange bearded ladies dancing around! Aunty Paula's section of the community actually won because she got up on stage and danced in front of the whole community!

After the parade there was more singing and karaoke contest in the afternoon. They also played lots of games for kids and adults like eating a kerupuk (a large prawn cracker) held from a string and sack races and tug of war and the even had a greasy pole and men tried to climb it but kept on slipping down.

Bath

One of Caden's new words is bath (barf)! He loves the bath and takes every opportunity to take off his clothes and jump in the water!

On our way back from Singapore, he looked out the window, saw all the clouds and the ocean and it must have looked very inviting as he was looking out the window, nodding his head, and saying "barf, barf!"