Baby C Has Her Own Plans

When Big C was a baby she taught me a lot.  So when Baby C was born I had a lot of "plans" for how this infancy was going to work for the two of us.  First off she was born a "big" baby, especially for Indonesians, at 4.1 kilos.  Everyone who came to visit told me that I was so lucky because a "big" baby would sleep through the night faster.  That is FALSE.  All of you who said that are wrong.  Yes, Baby C has given us some good nights of sleep, even almost a week of 10 hours each night.  However, a big baby just means that they have more belly that they want to fill up.  (I will expand on this later)

The other plan I had for us is that she would stay my "blob" for a very long time.  I was hoping for the first five months she would just lay where I put her and would not move.  As I have already discussed with you she started moving her body in circles during her second month of life and rolling in her third month of life.  On Tuesday she will be four months and I need to admit that I am scared of what this month will bring.

My next plan was to keep her on breast milk alone through the first six months of her life.  So far that has been working out great for us.  However, when she reached about 15 pounds a week or so ago she started waking every four hours to nurse again during the night.  I discussed this with my local, American ped here and some friends and decided a few things could be causing this.  1) She had a cold and that got her out of her sleeping rhythms 2) Growth Spurt 3) She is just looking for a cuddle or 4) SHE'S HUNGRY.  Over the last 10 days I have been trying to figure out which one is causing our problem.  Here is my conclusion after my thorough study (Thank God I learned the Scientific Method in Grade School):

It could be the cold thing or the cuddle so to rule that out I have let her cry through the middle of the night feeding.  80% of the time this is not working at night.  When she wakes from nap early if I delay getting her she 100% of the time will go back to sleep.  At night; not so much.  Also, let's say Papa D gets her, he can't calm her down.  She will only calm once she gets to have some milk.  So I feel I can rule these two reasons out.
It could be a growth spurt....but for 10 days!!! Lord, if that is the answer then please HAVE MERCY!  This baby can't keep growing like this!
Which leads me to she is hungry.  I honestly think this is the answer.  When I feed her at night she goes to town.  She eats a full meal and she does it fast.  She does not dose off while nursing until she gets all that she needs.  
Conclusion: I think Baby C is hungry.

Response to Conclusion: I think I need to start feeding her a little and see if this helps.  Problem: I can not get rice cereal here unless it has added sugar or MSG.  Solution: Make your own!  Grind up uncooked rice.  Boil 1 cup of water.  Add 1/4 of ground rice, whisk constantly as it cooks for 10 minutes.  Add formula or breast milk until it reaches the consistency that your baby needs.  Add fruit or veggies if they are ready.  WOW, I NEVER KNEW YOU COULD MAKE YOUR OWN RICE CEREAL AND NOT BUY IT IN A BOX!  How amazing is that!

So back to my plans....I'm throwing them in the trash.  Big C and now Baby C are teaching me that I can plan all day long but my plans will not control them.  They are who they are and I give thanks for that.  Parents, if you haven't learned yet, you have to let your kids grow as they are ready, test boundaries on their timeline, move mountains when they can and not when you say.  Let our kids be themselves not us.  We can teach them what is right and what is wrong, we can teach them truth but we can not hold them back from growing up.  If this were not true I'm sure my parents would have me living in America right now.

I hope my girls take their time growing up but if they choose to run at full speed then we all better back up and watch them turn that run into flight.

Uncooked rice cereal, we haven't tried preparing it yet

Aunt Big H

Aunt Big H sent Baby C some pjs.  They are special because they are covered in VW bugs just like Aunt Big H drives written on one of the cars is "Going to Auntie's".  How special is that?  Here are some photos of Baby C showing off her new PJs:

Thank you Aunt Big H!!

Grandpa Do Not View

We found a baby tokek outside of our house the other day.  It was trying to come in through the roof.  We don't want this to happen because these creatures will not let go of anything they bite.  So say if it bites your foot then you need to put your foot in the toilet until the creature drowns and lets go of you.  This has never happened to anyone that I know or to myself.  Still, I don't want to take any risk so Papa D had to catch it and dispose of it.  These are actually worth a lot of money because they have something in them that can make medicine.  Here is a picture of our tokek that is now gone.

Sorry everyone this is a picture of it without life

Sunday Morning

On Sunday mornings the Kaemba family heads off to our Indonesian church.  At 8:30 we attend Big C's Sunday School class which parents attend with their toddler.  This is such a special time as we help Big C learn about the love of Christ and all the ways that Christ has loved creation throughout history.  We enjoy spending time with the other parents and watching all of the children grow in the knowledge and love for our Savior.

If the story is about a boat, Big C will make her table into a "boat".

Soccer Game

We recently went to a local pro-soccer game.  It is a lot of fun as long as you can ignore the smoking or have a husband who will constantly ask people to stop smoking around his baby.  The local team has a new coach who is actually a friend of ours so this made going to the game even more special.  The coach is a German man who grew up here.  The team ended up winning in the 95th minute of the game off of a PK for an hand ball in the box!  That was pure excitement!

Many of the westerners went to cheer on our friend as new coach during his first home game!

Rolling Over

I promised you video of Baby C rolling.  I have tried and tried to post a video on here but it is taking forever.  I have left it for up to 5 hours uploading a video but it is still not done.  So pictures will have to do.  You can feel in the gaps with your minds' eye.

Photo Shoot

Well, I tried to have to get a good photo of the Cs' sitting together with Big C's arm around Baby C.  This is the best I could do.  I hope you enjoy!

Baby C is 16 Weeks Old!

Believe it or not; our Baby C is 16 weeks old.  She is a pure beauty and joy to us.  She is growing so fast and showing her personality.  Baby C loves Big C.  It is so obvious by the smile that she gives when she hears Big C's voice or sees her face.  A crying Big C can be brought to smiles by her big sister singing her a song or taking the time to lay down beside her.  Baby C must have decided that she wanted to keep up with her big sister because she started rolling over between 13-14 weeks so that she could get better looks at her sister's activity.  We are so blessed by their love for one another and pray that we can help them to nourish that love over the years.

I haven't taken a picture of Baby C rolling over yet (I know I am such a slack mom) but I will try and get one as soon as she wakes.

Now we need to get ready for our night out in the rain at the soccer match!

Breaking Bread

Breaking bread together is a very important part of life.  Christ did it many times during his years of ministry.  We follow that example as well as we can.  Here we are eating ribs together with some good friends and some Canadian guest.  If you come to visit us we will love to break bread with you as well!

Style

Our girls' clothing comes from others.  I have bought a very minimal amount of clothing and have received the rest.  Hand-me-downs or new, we accept all clothing with smiles.  This outfit was put together by Aunt Kitty and Memaw.  The Dora was given by our good friend Tina!  Now everyone who contributed to this outfit did not do so with this outcome in mind.  However, I think that our Big C did a very good job of mixing her wardrobe to create her own style.  Purple is the color that runs through each piece of clothing and brings it all together.  She also is revealing to us her love for tutus.  She was given a gold tutu for her 1st bday from Aunt Kitty and she has never looked back.  We look forward to the day that Big C receives her first dance lesson from Aunt Kelly.  Finally, I would like to comment on Dora.  Dora is the closest thing to Big C's comfort item.  She has never taken to anything really that is a must have for bed or new situations.  However, she does like "showing" Dora the great life that she lives.  In this picture Dora is enjoying a nice dance with Big C.  We all need friends who will dance with us!

I asked for her to smile for the camera.  This is what I received.  Such a lovely child.

Waiting

I'm waiting.  Waiting to hear news; waiting to hear something, anything.  While you wait for news your brain begins to make its own news.  Sometimes you can imagine the best news and your reaction to it.  Sometimes you imagine the worse news and your reaction to it.  I remember waiting about 9 months ago to hear if our daughter would have downs syndrome or not.  That was a long week for me.  I imagined so many different outcomes and reactions.  The night before I find out she would not have DS I was overcome with a sense of peace that no matter the outcome everything would be alright.  I am waiting for that peace to wash over me now.  I am waiting.

Life is so beautiful.  I have always loved living.  My life has not always been full of joy but even in the tears I have loved living.  Tears and laughter are both important parts of life.  Beginnings as well as endings are beautiful parts of life.  In between the beginning and the ending, for me, is almost too hard to describe with one adjective.

I like relationships.  My dad wrote me a love letter when I was 16.  He told me that the most important part of our lives are our relationships with others and with God.  I think Christ said something similar to that when He said the greatest commandment is this "love your God and love your neighbors as yourself".  I really do try to do this.  I fail...I fail a lot.  I get frustrated with "my neighbors".  I get annoyed with them and even angry.  I make jokes about them actually.  I am not nice really.  I hope though that my love wins out in the end.  I really do love the people in my life.  I like the interactions between people.  I even like to watch others interacting.  I love the banter of a good conversation, the back and forth like a tennis match.  I like watching people care for one another.  I love watching someone bend over and help another up.

Life is beautiful.  With the ups and with the downs, I will always say life is beautiful.

Love.  Love is key.  I wish we could stop our need for putting people into groups.  I wish we could stop looking at how we are different and focus on how we are alike.  I wish we could focus on how to help each other through our times of tears and how to laugh with each other through our times of joy.  I think that I truly hate divisions.  Divisions break my heart.  I wish we could go into the discomfort of true unity.  That we could embrace each other because we are the same in so many ways.  Love.  Love is key to solving the problems of this world.  Not bombs.  Not divisions.  Not war.  Not pointing fingers.  Just Love.  I capitalize Love on purpose.

Today can we look at each person we pass on the street and focus on what unites us and not what divides us.  As I wait for news, as I wait for peace to come washing over me like the rains of Indonesia, I will turn my focus not towards the unknown but towards this day.  I will focus on loving others.

I wait.  I Love.  Peace come.