Sam & JJ Cheering Luka During Tennis

Luka's First Tennis Lesson

We are very proud of our little tennis pro. I don't think JJ is the only one that will take advantage of being a member of the Tennis Club

Luka & Sam's Play Date Party

Finally Mommy let us have our friends over to play and show them our new house. I invited some friends from school and other cool kids I have met since I arrived in La Paz. Sammy even had some babies his own age at the party. I didn't know he had already made friends at such a young age....

We had a great time. We put a bunch of toys on the terrace and we were all able to enjoy the sun and beautiful weather. Since Sammy was turning 6 months the following day we sang Happy Birthday to him. I thought it was a little silly, but my mom insisted. Here are some photos from the day:

To see all the photos my mommy took please click here.

Love

Luka

Beautiful Day with My Beautiful Baby

This morning the weather is crisp and perfect in La Paz with just the right amount of chill in the air. I just couldn't resist taking Sam out on our terrace for some photos. Here he is sporting his new denim jacket enjoying our beautiful view! I will save the rest of the photos for later.

I am off to school to pick-up Luka!

Luka Steals My iPhone Again

The little thief strikes again. Luka loves to steal my phone and snap away. This time he taught the nanny how to use the camera so she could take pictures of him. You can also get a sneak peek into his room and his "art wall" that he is very proud of. Every week something new goes up on his wall.

Not sure what is happening here...

Celebrity Style in La Paz

This morning we went to the annual Christmas/Artisan Fair in town put on by ABIA (American British International Association). I was in heaven and drooling seeing all the booths with gorgeous things to buy. I think I started to sweat a little bit. I have not been shopping at all since I arrived in La Paz, so I was ready for some good retail therapy. There were so many beautiful things and not so beautiful too, but let's concentrate on the good stuff.

My first buy were some alpaca hats and shawls. The material is amazing and everything is handmade. I won't post photos because my family in Holland might have some alpaca goodies coming their way for Christmas! (My friends and family won't get any use out of this WARM material...sorry!)

Then of course I was crazy about all the bags & purses I saw. There were leather, plastic, recycled, alpaca, cotton, embroidered...every kind you can think of...but then I spotted these bright colored tote bags. I love a beautiful leather bag just as much as the next girl, but I am obsessed with tote bags and if they are plastic even better. These from Tote Le Monde were so bright and fun I couldn't resist. I bought a couple of tote bags for presents (let's see who are the lucky girls to get them) and a very fun bright purse for me....oh, and a tote for me as well. I thought they were Bolivian, but then I got in the car and I saw the tag said New York. I thought I had paid too much, but when I got home and googled the company. I was so excited to find out that the same tote that cost me $20 USD in La Paz was $58 USD in the states. I was over the moon...here usually it works the other way around...anything from the states is double the price.

But then my tote bag became ultra cool when I found out that Jennifer Garner had the same exact one....and she probably paid $58 USD! (picture popped up when I googled the company) Come on she is like the coolest mom ever!

Who knew this "celebrity" goodie had its roots in Bolivia. Check out this link. So I guess they really are Bolivian because they are also made here.

Okay, enough about this silly tote bag...I really do need a life don't I?!?!?!

iPhone Surprise

I don't know how many of you have iPhones? And then how many of your kids are obsessed with your iPhones but my son can't get enough of my little toy. He is constantly stealing it from me and I think he has figured out how to unlock it...hello, he is three! Well, Luka obsession with my iPhone is not only about playing with the screen....he LOVES to take photographs. This morning I found 55 new photos of Sam. He had decided to have his own little photo session with Sam. Here are some of the highlights.

Here Luka is trying to take a photo of both of them at the same time...

Sam's surprised look, "Hey I didn't know my big brother knew how to use the camera!"

Sam, "This is cool...I like Luka taking my picture."

"Okay, I am getting bored now...what is this?"

"Oh, delicious...oh, oh he took my photo with my foot in my mouth, didn't he?"

Trick-or-Treat

This was a special Halloween for us....Sam's first and our first in Bolivia. We had a Halloween packed with events. Friday was the Book Character Parade at Luka's School. His class dressed up as the the Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed. Luka was jumping and dancing as they called his class for the parade.

Then Friday afternoon his classmate Simon invited him to his first Halloween Party. Luka was Captain Hook and the rest of the family were his crew of pirates. Evelin (nanny) and her little brother joined us in the costume theme. Then after Simon's party we were off to the "scary" celebration at school. It was a little late for little ones, but Evelin's little brother had a blast!

Saturday we rested and on Halloween (Sunday) we dressed up again and went to an awesome Halloween party two blocks from our house. The party started at one house then we went all around the neighborhood in a group of about 40 people Trick or Treating from house to house. Luka would say, "Trick or Treat Candy Please." I have never seen him so excited about candy. He really got into the spirit of the holiday.

As you can see he was Peter Pan, but he was supposed to join Sam and I with our Superhero theme (I had a "Robin" outfit for him), but he really wanted to be Peter Pan...so Peter Pan he was. He is really into Peter Pan (book & movie) these days so he was really happy he could dress up as the two main characters for this Halloween. As for me I was being nostalgic and tried to recreate my all time FAVORITE halloween costume from kindergarten or 1st grade - my mom made me the best Wonder Woman costume EVER! I need to find that photo and post it...

To see more pictures from the all of the festivities click here.

Lunchtime with Sam & Luka

These days lunchtime is very exciting! Sam has started to eat cereal and he loves it. He can eat that stuff fast enough and Luka really likes sharing lunch time with his little brother. He also loves the rice cereal and he eats whatever Sam leaves behind and asks to eat his cereal all the time. I think he just wants to be like his brother...I can't imagine that mushy rice cereal tastes better than all the foods he usually eats.

Here you can see Sam how he is sitting in his big baby chair and opening wide for his cereal. Thank you Opa for the Stokke Tripp Trapp! Now Sam and Luka both have one. Luka's is the orange chair which doesn't have the bar anymore (picture at the top).

I don't think he likes the "mommyrazzi" while he is eating. His eyes are telling me to put the camera away and let him eat in peace.

Viva Mozambique

This week was International Week at Luka's School. He was sick on Tuesday (the day of the International Parade), but he didn't want to miss his chance to show-off his Mozambican threads and teach his classmates a little about where he is from, so we had our own Mozambican presentation. He wore his Mozambican outfit (yes, it is a little short...we had it made for him when he was two but he insisted on wearing the pants!). We also made a Mozambican flag that all the kids loved waving around. The real fun started when I left. I had left a CD for the teacher with Mozambican music and a bag full of capulanas (variety of African fabrics). The kids all danced and dressed up. I wish I would have been there to see it...I am waiting anxiously for the photos from Mrs. Kirby.

Scary!!!

Here we were driving back from Lake Titicaca and what should I see outside my window...this SCARY metal sculpture of Che. It is really disturbing! Please people...enough with the Che.

Luka Gets a Haircut

We finally shaved Luka's head. He was so happy to have it nice and clean again! Here he is putting his "I am too cute to finish my dinner" face. Didn't work....he ate all his chicken and spinach pasta.

Sam is FIVE Months!

Today I turned 5 months. Usually my mom writes me a sappy letter, but this month I wanted to show you myself what I have been up to. The first photo is of the birthday cake a.k.a apple pie that my mom bought to celebrate this momentous occasion, but doesn't she know that I can't eat apple pie yet. I think she bought it because SHE likes to eat this stuff. I would much prefer a boobie and some warm milk.

So know at 5 months I enjoy my toys much more...they keep me entertained for about 10 minutes at a time. Just enough to tease my mom and drive her crazy when she has to pick me up again. Here I am playing in my box.

Here you can see my trying to sit up. I can stay up for a couple of seconds if they prop me up on a hard surface. I think in a couple of weeks I will be able to do this alone.

Lately I am all about my feet. Who knew feet could be so much fun? But look at how big they are. I have both my mom and dad to thank for that.

Here I am trying to take off crawling. I don't move much yet, but I am starting to get good traction on the floor.

I love feet, but I still love to have my hands in my mouth. I prefer it to the pacifier, but my mom insists on trying to stick that thing in my mouth. Doesn't she know that my hands are much more yummy!

Here I am holding my head up on my stomach...pretty good huh!

And here is just a photo of my feet. My mom insists on putting this silly photo on the blog. She loves my freaking feet. I don't like to see them just stick them in my mouth.

So that is pretty much what I am up to these days. Oh, I stopped sleeping through the night...not sure why this happened. I just like to wake up mommy and have some warm milk in the middle of the night. Who doesn't, right? But I don't think she is too happy about this. Maybe I will grow out of it, but for now I like waking up.

See you soon!

Sam Erik van Herksen

Luka Dresses Up for School

(click on photo to see larger)

Today Luka woke up and had a special request. It was the first time ever he requested to pick his own clothes for school...and this is what he chose. He was determined on wearing a tie. I am not sure where he got the idea, but he wanted to wear this specific white shirt and jeans (which are one size too small). He was so excited that I had to take photos to capture the moment.

Luka really loves his new school...here are some other photos from earlier this week. In these two photos you can see Luka with his "color" crown. It was the final day of the Color lesson and each child got their own crayon headpiece. Luka and Simon were having fun running around before classes started.

Oh and let's not forget playing Dress Up at school. I pick him up and this is what I find...my son really loves to wear dresses, but what threw me off was the sequined bikini top. How did that get into the KG3 dress up box? ha ha ha.

Local Meat Market

In Maputo, although we frequented outside markets often, we never bought our meat outdoors. Last week I had to run to buy some pork chops for dinner and I stopped at the local meat market in Achumani (neighborhood where we live). I stopped with Luka and he got a little scared with all the carcasses laying around. I think that if I would have stayed there 5 minutes longer I would have become a vegetarian.

Spending the Day in Mecapaca

Thank you to our new friends Maria Renee & Family that invited us to go with them today to Mecapaca - 30 minutes south of town. There is a brand new hotel there (just opened last week) and we had lunch and enjoyed the gorgeous weather and breathtaking scenery. Here is a photo of the pool area:

To see more photos from our first outing out of the city click here.

FYI...The new photo in the header of the blog was taken today on our drive back to town from Mecapaca.

Sam Learns to Laugh

A couple of weeks ago (September 19th) Sam started laughing out loud and it mostly happens right before we bathe him at night. He LOVES taking a bath and he gets really excited at the start of his nighttime routine. Check it out...

I apologize for the bad quality, but we took this video at night right before his bath. It was really dark in the hotel room.