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!

Happy Birthday Luka

Yesterday Luka turned 1! We want to wish our son a very happy birthday and may all his wishes come true! We are so proud him! Pictures from his special day are coming. This week is just a little hectic.

Our Trip to Miami

Our family made its first trip to Miami as a threesome. The holiday was anything but boring. We took Luka on his first airplane ride...he was baptized...we went to Disneyworld...he went shopping at Ikea for the first time...he met his family and tons of friends...and let's not forget his emergency hospital stay. Yes, Luka likes to keep us on our toes. Oh and did I mention that Grandpa also went to the hospital for a while. Thank goodness that everyone is now safe and sound at home and recovering. We hope our next trip to Miami is full of relaxing days on the beach with the whole family and less hospitals. Although the trip was a little crazy, we loved hanging out with Luka and all of our friends and family. Thank you to everyone that made our trip special. I am still working on all of the photos, but here is a video of Luka's first flying adventure from Maputo to Miami.

Luka's Attempt at Standing Up

This video was taken last week. Luka really likes to stand up in his playpen...although it only last a little while before he goes into a complete straddle...he sure has fun doing it.

Another Letter to Luka

We will be heading to Miami on Thursday..llook how excited Luka was when we told him the news. The three of us can't wait to get there and see everyone. This trip home will be extra special with Luka. I think Luka's cousin - Maxwell - is getting really excited with his arrival. Grandpa recently sent us another letter Maxwell had written for Luka...enjoy.

Dear Luka,

I wanted to write this letter to you to discuss our grandparents here in Miami. I know you are the last baby in the family and the flavor of the week. Grandma and grandpa are crazy printing pictures of you and making calendars with your picture on it, sending boxes with presents to Mozambique, etc, etc, etc.

Grandma even says you are very "photogenic". I dont know what the hell that is, but I know its good, because she smiles when she says it. Lets make one thing clear. You are my cousin and I love you, but I'm older than you and there are things to know and certain rules you are going to have to follow:

1) Grandpa is crazy, but that is good. He is the one you want to call if you want to play and do crazy stuff. He has some kind of early dementia, so he lets you play with water, food, toys and even tools. You can call him "abu" or "pepe" or "yeyo", but he will respond to any sound you make. Also, he can only see from one eye, so stay on his right side, so he can see you better. Make sure when he feeds you, you open your mouth wide, because lately he is pointing the spoon to my nose or my left ear.

2) As soon as you get here you will meet Grandma. She is very sweet and gentle, but she is TOTALLY deaf. If you want to make yourself heard make sure you yell your lungs out and make noises. You will be the one answering the phone and telling her that someone is kicking out the front door. Also I know you dont see that in Mozambique, but you will become adicted to "General Hospital" and the Food Channel.

3) I dont want to sound jelous, but remember they are my grandparents too. Make sure they still keep an eye (in the case of grandpa) on me during your visit. I can't wait for your arrival so they can see you in person. I'm happy because I will see you for the first time, but also because grandma and grandpa will stop talking 24/7 about the new grandson, how beautiful, how happy, blah, blah, blah.

I love you -

Maxwell

Letter from Maxwell to Luka

Dear Luka,

Your day will come soon enough. I actually liked my hair how it was. It was always calling attention and people loved to touch it. It was lots of fun! Mommy and daddy decided to cut it after everyone saying it was long enough.

Yeah, I didn't want to cut it...but I knew it would grow back. I pretended to cry and be very upset, so they took me to this really fun place where I they cut my hair and I get to sit on an AIRPLANE. So when your mommy and daddy say, "Okay, today we are going to cut your hair," just start crying like crazy. They will take you to the really cool airplane place and might buy you a toy afterwards.

I can't wait to see you in person. You look really small on the computer screen, but I am sure you are much bigger. Either way we will play and I will show you all my "tricks" with grandma and grandpa.

Love,

Maxwell
"Your Cousin"

Happy Birthday Luka - 10 months

Yesterday Luka turned 10 months. It has been 2 months since his arrival...where does the time go? We spent his 10-month birthday going to the park, a bbq and seeing friends. He loves to spend time with other kids and is really social. He will strike up a conversation with almost anybody...sounds like somebody I know....hmmm.

Here is a photo of him yesterday at the park. It was his first time wearing a baseball cap...isn't it a great look for him?

Luka's First Passport Photo

I don't know if it is funny or absolutely adorable. What do you think? Doesn't he look like a little man. Enjoy!

Just for Fun

Happy New Year

Our 1st Month Anniversary

Can you believe that today it makes one month since Luka's homecoming. It is hard to believe to see how much our lives have changed in just 30 days. We celebrated our one month anniversary by taking Luka to his 1st pool party. You have to check out the photos and videos...not because he is my son...but damn is he cute!

Luka & Daddy in the Pool


Luka & Mami in the Pool


Luka Learns to Flirt

Our First Christmas Together

We had a great Christmas this year. We started off with the traditional Cuban Noche Buena feast with 13 of our closest friends here in Maputo and then on Christmas Day we went to mass with Luka for the first time. He behaved very well...his favorite part was the music. After church we went to visit his friends at the orphanage and take some Christmas cake for the kids. The ladies could not believe how big he was getting. One of them didn't even recognize him. Mass was a 8 am so we didn't open any presents in the morning. When we got back home we put his Christmas pj's back on and opened some presents. He had some gifts from friends and a couple from mommy and daddy. He wasn't really amused with the presents. His favorite thing BY FAR was the paper. You should see the photos of him enjoying playing with the Christmas wrapping. I think next year I will just wrap the wrapping paper. Here are some videos for you to enjoy.

Getting ready for Noche Buena - Christmas Eve Dinner

Luka learns to sit up on his own:

I will work on uploading all of our photos today. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Luka Keeps Growing

It has been three weeks since Luka's arrival and he is growing like weed. Yesterday we had a doctor's appointment and he weighed 5.22 kg (up from 3.6 kg). That means he is weighing 11.5 lbs! What an improvement from 8 pounds and you can definitely tell in the pictures from our album. I swear I have never been so happy about seeing a double-chin and cellulite in my life! He also grew from 55 cm to 57 cm. That is a good growth spurt for a month and it was only three weeks. Even the doctor was impressed when he sat up on his own and started grabbing things from her hand...something he wasn't even attempting on his first visit.

Life as a mother and father has been interesting to say the least. JJ and I are taking turns waking up early and at night since JJ is home on "daddy leave." He is here everyday and Luka is starting to recognize us as his parents...well I think he is.

I think the hardest thing about having a new baby is that you have to learn to do things fast or in sections. He eats almost every two hours and it takes anywhere from 30 -45 minutes to feed him. So if you count prep time you better be done with your task in about 55 minutes. Shopping is a challenge. I have become a very quick shopper. But I have noticed that most of the personal things (phone calls, emails, bills, etc.) get done when he is down for the night. You would think that I would be dead since I have been up since 5 am, but somehow you find the energy to finish what you need to do and then wake up early the next day. I would have never believed you if you told me I would be up till 12 - 1 am and up at 5 am AND function well enough to carry, change, feed a child and pop in a Barney DVD.

Today was our first walk down to the park and use of our "borrowed" stroller. I don't know if he enjoyed it. To tell you the truth he looked kind of scared...it might have been daddy's driving. The picture above was taken today.

I promise the next entry won't be about Luka....I surely must have more to talk about than my son!

Happy Holidays from Mozambique

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the three of us in Maputo, Mozambique! This has turned out to be a very good year for our family and we have many things to be thankful for.

Christmas is almost here and I still can't get used to having Christmas in the SUMMER. You might say, but aren't you from Miami where it is summer all year round! But if you are from Miami you hope that on Christmas you can at least wear a sweater and if you walk outside on December 25th you can sometimes feel a cool winter breeze. Well, not here...we are in the middle of the summer. The cable channels are promoting their summer Christmas movies and holiday line-up..."summer Christmas"....does this sound strange to anyone else?

Okay, okay...so I know that half of the globe is also in summer right now...but i just can't get used to it. I mean if it is summer then does Santa wear a big fluffy suit or is it more like bermudas and a Hawaiian shirt?

Maybe I am just really homesick or maybe I just miss the notion of sitting by the fireplace, drinking hot chocolate and listening to Christmas carols. Again, you might say....fireplace in Miami...well, every Christmas my parents would turn the air conditioner the coldest it could possibly go and make a warm fire in our fireplace...it was GREAT!

It is way past my bedtime, so for now I will go to sleep and dream about a White Christmas!

One Week and Counting...

It has been a week since we became a family. Luka is a completely different baby than when he arrived home just 7 days ago. Just in that time he has learned how to grab things with his hands, he puts them in his mouth, he grabs his bottle, holds his head up when he is on his tummy and has discovered his feet. These are just some of the many things he couldn't do last Friday. It is amazing what love, attention and good nutrition will accomplish.

Our first week as parents has been interesting. You know getting used to having this little human being that depends on you for everything. For us it was strange...on Thursday we are a married couple with no kids and on Friday we are carrying around a baby bag. On Friday night I kept waking up and pinching myself to make sure that it was real....we finally had a son!

We can't really say it has been hard...Luka is such a great baby and at eight months he has survived an orphanage so he doesn't complain much. I predict that after a few more weeks of mommy and daddy spoiling him he will start asking for more things.

We are still getting to know him, but just after a week we have developed a routine...Boy does this child like to nap! He naps at 10 am, 3 pm, 7 pm then he sleeps from 10 pm - 6 am. I know that other parents reading this must be jealous. But I think that prior to living with us he wasn't able to rest quietly. He has also grown a lot in one week and the doctor says he is sleeping more due to his rapid growth and the greater amount of food he is getting. He already up to 9.59 lbs!!!!

What else can I tell you about Luka Dario...well, he loves his bath time as you can see from the photos above. You can see more bath time photos here.

I think I am going to sleep and wait for my 6 am wake up call. Come back to hear more about Luka and our holiday season in Mozambique. The Christmas tree went up today...Luka's first Christmas photos will come soon.

Luka Dario's Birth Announcement