.
. .
. . . k i a n a' s . . f i r s t . . d a y . . o f . . s c h o o l . . .

Well we finally brought Kiana and her mother to NJIS (the school)! The students were in love with her - trying to touch, grab, and play with her. Kiana was very well behaved and didn't even cry once in the three hour adventure. It was great to have everyone "welcome" her into the community. After that we even managed to go shopping and sit in a coffee shop for a while without any objections from the little one.

The next big dilemma is deciding what to do for spring break. Novita is a bit concerned about flying anywhere - although I'd love to get to Cape Town so grandma can meet her grand-daughter! If we can't swing that, maybe we'll head to Bali for a while - that's only an hour flight.

I managed to sneak a few shots of the beauty while she was dreaming of milk and fresh diapers.

.
. .
. . . H A P P Y . . O N E . . M O N T H . . B I R T H D A Y . . K I A N A ! . . .

.
. .
. . . m a g n e t i c . . b a b y . . .

Kiana seems to draw everyone's attention when we get out in public. I'm not sure if it's because this culture loves babies, or because people are fascinated with a "mixed" baby. At any rate, the reactions are always warm and people exude friendliness at every juncture. We're slowly learning to take Kiana out into the world, but she still seems so fragile. Our bedroom has become a "cave" at times and we need an escape!

The latest checkup revealed that Kiana is growing at an above average rate for her age - if that's even a reliable estimate at one month! She's starting to "coo" and experiments with baby noises - probably provoked too often from her father!

.
. .
. . . a f r i c a n . . p a j a m a s . . .

Kiana is modeling the Spring 2004 line from Cape Town thanks to Grandma.

Grandma has been kind enough to send a ton of stuff for Kiana from America and South Africa - risking the shady mailing system in Indonesia. It took almost a month longer than was expected, but once it all arrived we were pleasantly surprised! I still can't believe she found the book, "Goodnight Moon" - which I remember from when I was a baby. Somehow the 15 pages felt like a novel when I was a kid.

Kiana has passed the three week mark and is healthy as can be! Our trip to the mall posed a few frustrations - mainly that I suddenly felt much more defensive with people wanting to touch her and with other people not paying attention to where they were walking - but all in all, it was nice to get out.

Novita's mother was nice enough to babysit for us on Valentine's Day - so we went with some friends out for the evening. It's nice to have Grandmas!

.
. .
. . . m i t t e n s . . i n . . i n d o n e s i a ? . . .

The three week mark is approaching and I'm still hoping to get Kiana to smile from something more than passing gas! She's much more alert, and is maintaining eye contact as well as following us with her gaze. This weekend we're going to try to venture out - I hope it goes well!

One big perk of living here is having a live-in maid - for this situation it turns out to be quite a benefit, otherwise it'd be me doing all the laundry, cooking, and cleaning! (I still help out).

Happy Valentine's Day!

.
. .
. . . s i n g a p o r e . . .

This is a photo taken in the Singapore Zoo when Novita was 6 months pregnant. We traveled around rather well despite the little belly - taking in the sights and shopping of the island next door. Actually Singapore is approximately as far from Jakarta as Bali is - less than 2 hours. I found the country to be a huge contrast to living in Indonesia - but almost to the point of feeling that it was too sterile and rather tame. Indonesia would never be described with the word sterile - but in many ways I've grown to love the grittiness of this place.



And one more of Kiana - more to come soon!

.
. .
. . . d r e a m i n g . . o f . . m i l k . . .

The images speak for themselves . . .





I am very appreciative for the wonderful comments - I guess this site will turn out to be a decent way to lessen the distance.

.
. .
. . . b a h a s a . . w h a t ? . . .

My hope is that our daughter will grow up being able to appreciate the rich culture of her Indonesian blood, while still recognizing her American half. I think the best way for her to reach out to relatives on all sides will be to learn to speak fluently in both tongues – Bahasa Indonesia as well as English. From what I’ve read, this is best accomplished by having each parent speak in their native tongue. Since Novita speaks Bahasa Indonesia, English, as well as some Mandarin Chinese and French, I am wondering if exposure to the other languages would be beneficial or just mix her all up! Anyone have any ideas or experience with this?

We primarily speak English at home – or as some of you have seen – we tend to mix English with Bahasa Indonesia to form our own jibberish that is basically incomprehensible, so I think we should begin from an early age to change our ways.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Kiana is officially two weeks old as of this morning! I can’t believe how quickly the time has passed – I assume this will be the trend till she’s grown. This is why I really want to keep track of her life from the beginning, because it’s dramatic how rapidly she is changing already. From what were squinty half open glances, come these deep brown eyes sheltered by long eyelashes that weren’t visible even last week. Her jaundice seems to have cleared up (it was minor to begin with), and overall she’s doing fine! It’s big poppa that’s battling a cold this weekend. It’s funny, but in these tropical islands, I rarely get sick – and my timing couldn’t have been worse! Oh well, so far I’ve kept it to myself.

My next obstacles will be dealing with Kiana’s checkups, her immunizations, and getting American citizenship for her. I can see why so many expats who are having a baby do so in Singapore or their native country – Indonesia can be a real pain in that regard. See – from what I’ve heard, America technically recognizes dual citizenship – meaning I could get Kiana both an Indonesian and American passport – however, Indonesia only recognizes one. We are choosing American over Indonesian, but I’m hoping this won’t cause problems down the line.

Corruption is absolutely rampant here, with people paying off everyone. If I was in the mood to do so, I could easily pay off a police officer for drunk driving (not that I ever do), an accident, or other illegal activity. I’ve been in the Jakarta airport arriving from Cape Town, and been pulled into the immigration offices on their hope that I’d pay them off to avoid hassles. These are other stories for another time – but you see my point – things could get a bit tricky on both sides of the Pacific.

I remain confident that somehow, these things have a way of working themselves out. Now about Novita’s citizenship . . .

.
. .
. . . w h y . . t h a t . . n a m e ? . . .

Why not?

Kiana's mother is a beautiful Indonesian woman who is proud to be half Chinese and half Indonesian – although she looks 100% Balinese! I am a mutt – a lil this, a lil that – but still 100% American.

With these unique bloodlines, we thought that a unique name would best represent such a person. After much searching and help from relatives, I came up with the name Kiana – which turns out to be Hawaiian meaning “moon goddess”. I’ve also liked the name Gabriella since I can remember, so we gave her that as a middle name, (meaning angelic).

We did consider using an Indonesian name, but often they’re not as “fitting” in a global environment. Names like “Putri, Ratna, Dewi, Kiki” just didn’t have a ring of permanancy to them. I think people would have a hard time taking a woman named "Kiki" seriously.

I’m sure the name provokes some questions, but overall most people have been complimentary. All that really matters in the end is that Kiana likes her special name.

.
. .
. . . i n . . t h e . . b e g i n n i n g . . .

Kiana Gabriella came screaming into the world at 1:55 am on Sunday, January 25, 2004 in Jakarta, Indonesia – quite possibly the farthest possible point in the world from our home in America!

My goal as her father, is to introduce her to the world, or better said, introduce the world to Kiana. By living so far from family and friends, many of you will not meet her until she has grown up a bit. My hope is that you will be able to witness her growing and changing as best as the circumstances provide – and this website was my feeble attempt at sharing our experiences.