Better late than never...

If you have visited this blog before you know that Luka sometimes receives letters from his cousin - Maxwell. The letter below actually arrived before we left on holiday a couple of weeks ago, but between getting ready for the trip, finishing projects at work and running around after Luka I never got around to posting the letter. Now that things are back to "normal" and I found a few minutes to dedicate to the blog I thought I would add this letter. Max's letters are ALWAYS very entertaining and Luka really likes them. Here it goes:

Dear Luka:

I'm really happy you are coming to stay with us for 3 weeks. I understand , being older and wiser, you will be the flavor of the week for 3 weeks. I don't mind, you are a great kid and all that, but there are subjects I want to avoid during your visit.
 
First, do not talk about your teeth. You are almost a year younger than I am and you have more than double the number of teeth that I have. Everybody in Miami is always my mommy that maybe I have a problem. I don't chew hard stuff, or anything in chunks, but I still have more real teeth than Grandpa...I have four.

 
Also, don't mention your family portraits. I live in the country with the most photo studios in the world and you live in freaking Maputo and already have great professional family pictures. I think Mom and Daddy are waiting for me to get more teeth...just in case I smile at the freaking photographer.
 
I also know you are an international traveler like myself, but your Mom is telling people that you will speak five languages: English, Dutch,Spanish, Portugese and the native language of the people in Mozambique. Give me a freaking break!!!  Maybe you will speak those languages in the FUTURE...because you have so many teeth.

But let me tell you I have a problem with the Spanish, Yoruba and the freaking English with cuban accent everyone speaks here. After Grandpa's stroke I started going to a Day Care at an English speaking Baptist church to learn proper english. But I was surprised to see  all the freaking kids and all the freaking teachers are either cuban, nicaraguan or colombian. The only english word I have heard is "Pamper" and with a colombian accent. So I warn you, I think we will get along better if we use baby talk to communicate.  My baby gibberish doesn't have a cuban accent...I think.

I love you and hope to see you soon!

Your cousin,
 
Maxwell 

Luka Takes Off

Luka's First Steps

After 6 flights and 5 planes Luka didn't seem to be too jetlagged to take his first steps today. They were taken at about 6:30 pm today - Sunday, August 3rd. I think he was just waiting to get home and see daddy to show off his new skills. We are so proud of him!

Happy Birthday Mami

Happy 55th Birthday. Luka and I were very happy to spend this special day with you. We love you!!

Finally...Luka Says Mama

Finallly, yesterday Luka started saying Mama. He loves to repeat it over and over again. He will now switch from papa to mama...but he says it when he looks at me. I am so happy and proud of my little man. I will post a video soon.

Both Luka and I say hello from Miami. We will be heading back to Maputo next week. We both miss Daddy very much.

Papa & No Mama

At 10 months Luka started saying pa and the occasional ma...but never twice in a row and never in the context of calling either JJ or myself. But recently during our holidays in Holland Luka started saying Papa loud and clear and there I was left broken hearted as the syllable "ma" has seemed to disappear from his vocabulary. People tell me that the "m" sound is much harder for a baby to pronounce than the "p" sound...but so what...you still want to hear them say "mama." For now JJ will be the PROUD Papa and I will be the very proud (but a little jealous) ba, which is what Luka likes to call me.

Here is the video of the moment Luka first entertained us with his "papa" speaking ability...you can also hear him meow like a cat and throw some delicious kisses. Enjoy.

Luka's Blessing

Luka was baptized in Miami on February 24th (oops still haven't uploaded those photos), but none of his Dutch relatives were able to attend the ceremony. In celebration of his baptism and to welcome him into the family he was honored with a "blessing." His Uncle Henk, who is a member of the local Catholic Church arranged the entire thing. It was perfect! The family gathered at the church in the village (yes, it was really a village) and we sang, prayed and celebrated Luka! Most of the ceremony was in Dutch, but it didn't matter...you could really feel how special it was. Marielle, his other godmother, said a few words and both sets of Dutch grandparents read out their wish for Luka. JJ and I were also asked to say something....we prayed the Our Father in English and then the family sang a beautiful canon. Did I mention that JJ's family sing like the Von Trapp Family...except they are the van Herksens! The theme for the day was the start of his new life with us and as a Christian. The funny coincidence for the day was that final song...if you translate it...it roughly translates to the same song I sing to Luka every night before he goes to sleep. Above you can see some of the moments from the day, but for the rest of the photos visit our photo album.

Photo Moments from Our Trip

Van Herksen Family European Vacation

I apologize for the lack of communication and postings on the blog, but we have been on the road in Europe. We started off in Holland then went to the south of France, made a quick stop in Luxembourg, then it was back to Holland. Now we are still visiting other parts of Holland. I promise to post some photos and videos soon! We haven't had continuous access to email, but I will try and get everyone up to date in the next couple of days. JJ will be heading back to Maputo next week and Luka and I are headed to MIAMI!

Our Family Portraits

Okay, so when I think family portraits I think sitting in Sears or Zayres (do you remember that store!!!!) infront of some funny backdrop. At least those are the portraits I remember taking growing up and I wasn't really fond of them. Now that I have my own family I was in search of the perfect photographer to take modern family portraits. Sounds easy, right....yes, if we were back in Miami or Holland. But in Maputo it was a bit challenging and then I met Solange - a mom at the school I work at....I got really lucky. She just opened a photo studio in Maputo. She is great and really captured what JJ and I were looking for. So here they are....our first family portraits. I hope Luka likes them when he is older. But who knows...by then the wacky background and posed shots might be back in style. Click here to see all the photos from our "shoot." Enjoy!

Happy "Kissing" Anniversary Mom & Dad

So our family is kind of quirky and we celebrate things like the anniversary of my parent's first kiss. Yesterday my parents celebrated the 36th Anniversary of their first kiss and if you average it out...that means that my parents have kissed close to 26,280 times. Probably TMI (too much information) for most people, but I am in the mood to share today.

Felicidades Mami y Papi...although it is not the same type of kiss I am sending you a big fat besito from Maputo. CONGRATULATIONS and I hope you have many more kisses to come.

Guess Who?

Can you guess who's mouth that is? If you guessed Luka then you are right. His teeth just appeared out of nowhere. Now let's see if he will actually start chewing. He hates to put anything solid in his mouth. I have tried everything. I think we just have to go at his pace. But aren't those the cutest crooked teeth you have ever seen. I know he is adopted, but I think he might have inherited mommy's gap! Enjoy.

Luka Gets Advice from His Cousin

Dear Cousin:

I heard from grandpa that you are starting to stand up on your own and also crawling forward. I'm not jealous, but he told everybody in Miami. I know it's important, but he made a very big deal of it and was very emotional about it. I can tell you that he didn't get like that when I started standing up on my own and crawling forward….I never crawled backwards like they do in Mozambique. As your older cousin, I have been walking on my own for a while so I have decided to give you a few tips regarding this new important "step" in your life (did you get the joke.)

Learning to walk is a very important part of your life. Walking you will be able to go places and reach things you can't do now at floor level. You will, like I did after I started walking, drive your mom, dad and grandparents crazy…going to places you are not suppose to go and reaching things you are not suppose to touch.

Here are my tips:

1.DO NOT TOUCH ELECTRIC OUTLETS. My mom covered all the outlets in the house with plastic covers and made grandpa do the same thing at their house. Every time I get close to one and grandpa yells NNNNOOOOO!!! At me I start crying. For some reason electric outlets are not good for babies, so stay the hell away from them.

2. LOOK UP WHEN YOU STAND. Many times I have tried to stand up under a table or a chair and hit my head badly. I know you have a bigger head than mine, but be careful just in case. LOOK UP and try to measure if there is enough space for you and your big head standing up. And remember to do it slowly.

3. LOOSE SOME WEIGHT. I know everybody is saying you are strong and beautiful, but cousin you are fat. Try to loose some weight. Fat people have more difficulty walking. I see this everyday with grandpa and grandma, they are nice and all, but I run faster than them any day! Try to enroll at the local Mozambican Baby Weight Watchers or any other group like that.

I hope you learn from my experiences and my mistakes. See you soon…hopefully in July and then we will see who can run faster at that point.

Love,

Maxwell

Happy Mother's Day

I would like to wish a Happy Mother's Day to all the mommies out there....especially my mom. This year is a very special Mother's Day for me. As most of you know it is the first time I will get to celebrate this holiday as a mother.  I can't tell you how much I love being a mom. It is unlike anything I could have ever dreamed of. I know that everyone says that but it is true.

I want to thank my mom for being such an inspiration and role model for me. She is not perfect, if she was she wouldn't be any fun.  All I know is that she is the best mom I could have asked for. So instead of drowning this blog with yet another photo of Luka, I thought I would celebrate Mother's Day with a picture of my mom that was taken the first year she celebrated Mother's Day with me (that is me in the baby carrier). That silly man with the really cool glasses and hip outfit is my dad...don't laugh too much it was the 70's after all.  I don't think the photo was actually taken on Mother's Day, but it was taken the same year....close enough, right. I thought it was an awesome photos of my young super cool parents on South Beach.

Happy Mother's Day y Feliz Dia de las Madres. To see photos of JJ, Luka and I on Mother's Day please click here.

Our Family Goes MacCrazy

Okay, it is official...the van Herksen family is now running on Mac. Here we are the three of us playing around with our new super computer and its camera. I am still trying to figure everything out, but I think I am really going to like it. I just have to get over having to learn a whole new system. I think Luka likes the iMac too....look at him smiling!

Five Month Anniversary

Today marks 5 months since Luka became part of our family. Time has gone by so fast and he has grown so much! These photos show you the progress he made over the last couple of months. The change is amazing. He went from 3.5 kg to 10.5 kg in weight and he grew over 10 cm!

Last Friday was another milestone...Luka started to crawl forward and stand up using the furniture. Now we need to watch over him 24/7. Up until now I thought this parenting thing was so easy. He was such a good baby, but now he wants to touch everything and explore. I know this is a good thing, but boy is it hard work. I am not complaining. It is actually quite amazing to just watch him and see how he interacts with the world.

When we look at him now it is hard to imagine how tiny he was when he came home at 8 months weighing only 8 pounds. I remember looking at other 8 month old babies and thinking...oh, my gosh my son is never going to catch up. Luka was the size of most newborn babies we saw. We were very worried and decided to take it one day at a time. As new parents we didn't realize what the power of love and good nutrition could do in such a short time. We can hardly believe it ourselves!

Join me in congratulating Luka on his anniversary! For more photos click here.

What have computers have done to relationships...

Bald is Beautiful

Today we cut Luka's hair for the first time...well, shaved it is more like it. Luka's hair was not growing evenly. He had a big bald spot on the back of his head and we were told that if we shaved his head it would grow back nicer and evenly. Luka didn't cry at all. Everyone at the salon was amazed that he didn't even make a sound. But as you can see he had a very serious expression throughout the process. I think he was a little sad, but in the end he likes his bald head now and kept rubbing it right after they were done. I kind of miss his hair, but the good news is that it will grow back. He looks good either way!

Celebrating with Luka's Friends

Today we went back to Primero de Mayo (orphanage where Luka is from) to celebrate his 1st Birthday. The kids really had a great time, but I think Luka was a little upset that almost none of the kids recognized him. Nobody could believe how big he was! There are about 60 kids at the orphanage and they are all so beautiful, but they need so much love, attention and good nutrition and unfortunately the resources just aren't there. Now I look at them and think how much they could grow and flourish if the found a loving family. Luka is a completely different little boy than what he was 4 months ago. While we were there we met three families that are adopting and it was good for them to see Luka and talk to us about our experience. I hope you enjoy the photos from today. Click here to see them.

This boy still has another birthday party coming on April 27th. I think that will make five birthday cakes for him! One in Miami before we left, two on his real birthday, one today and one next week and his OFFICIAL birthday party that his mother planned really late...ha ha ha. Till the next birthday party.....

Happy Birthday Hubby

Well, today JJ and I are only one year apart...yes, my hubby is still younger than me. Please join me in wishing JJ a Happy 31st Birthday! And if we were in Holland you would be wishing me a Happy Birthday too and I would be also saying congratulations to everyone that is related to JJ. That is one of those "Dutch" traditions that I am still getting used to. Thank goodness you just have to say congratulations and not buy a present for everyone!

It is JJ's second birthday in Maputo and my gosh how time flies! Who would have thought that last year when we were drinking tequila and jumping in the pool at JJ's Birthday Party, that we would be waking up for midnight feedings just a year later. Life has definitely changed, but we can honestly say that we are so happy and are blessed with everything Mozambique has given us....especially Luka. He is so darn cute!

JJ, I love you and I hope that all of your wishes came true today, mine already have!