Mountain-bound to Maubisse

Trouble on two wheels... 

Since a friend and colleague was melting in front of our eyes (he's an East Coaster in some desperate need of 'fall weather'), a group of us decided to pack up and head to the mountains for the long weekend last week.  Here's three things I learned from that trip:

1. Friends don't let friends travel with toddlers alone
2. Yes, we can in fact survive an entire weekend without nannies
3. I want a motorcycle again

Now let's see, where could they have gotten this from? 

On Friday morning (somewhere between 09h00-11h00) we finally set off, the (big) boys on motorbikes, and the (small boys) and girls in two cars - which meant Luka and I were headed off solo - armed with a bucket load of Cheerios, a mountain of Marie biscuits and an iPod full of nursery rhymes for the 2-4 hour drive (roads are terrible, and people's speeds vary so much it is hard to get a good estimate at any given time of how long a particular course would actually take you).

The drive for us was uneventful - Luka fell asleep for 2 hours and I relished in the enjoyable (terrible roads notwithstanding) long drive, by myself, with a sleeping angel, good music and cool weather to match the winding roads up the hillsides.  We briefly stopped for lunch (read: chasing 3 boys around a local restaurant filled with dogs and other interesting things, and trying skillfully to wee in a less-than-stellar bathroom with said boys in tow), and arrived in Maubisse at the Pousada shortly after lunch time.

"My Supreme Court Justice-at-lunch impersonation"

At the Pousada we were thrilled to find that we actually had rooms (apparently reservation doesn't mean much at this destination-with-a-view) and cold beers soon ensued.

The rest of the weekend was spent hanging out on our porch where they boys played (and Luka tried to escape either through the door, or by climbing over the strategically placed cooler boxes at the entrance to the porch).  The guys went motorbiking, we did some sight seeing, and generally just chilled out.  Evenings were spent drinking copious quantities of wine, debating the (then) upcoming American election, and all things toddler-hood.  Very nice to sit on a porch in cool fall-like air with awesome friends. 

Kaito showing up the Timorese kids with his skills

"I'm telling you, I KNOW that's where
they hide the cookies...just follow me!"

"Whoa dad!"

"Faster! Faster!"

One year on

It is hard to sufficiently express gratitude for the past 12 months. Despite some initial challenges in getting this whole parenthood thing started, I would say we made out like bandits. Judging by the speed with which Luka is acquiring mobility, babblebility, dexterity and a whole lot of other 'ity's - we're in for an interesting ride.

Today we got to celebrate the first of many joint birthdays for my boys, and I couldn't help but think back one year ago to when I was a terrified, first-time pregnant mom in a foreign country, dreading going into labor.  Yet, here we are today, celebrating the first birthday of many more to come!!  Here are a few of my favorite photos from today...

If my year of baking results in a book I will call it 'A Year
in the Baking' and this recipe will feature - Serious Eats'
Brown Butter Pecan Carrot Cake - yummie! And I go back
to my belief that I now need a cake decorating class.

The BIRTHDAY BOYS!

Happy Birthday to y'all! Happy Birthday
to y'all...

With mommy/mamma...

Ah yes - daddy and mamma's birthday gift to the little
terror....a HELMET - (with that mischievous look, how could
you NOT want to put a helmet on him...)

What a lovely day, with two amazing people....

Luka's LA Premier

Well, turns out that we didn't pick the best weekend in LA, weather-wise.  Unless you prefer your weather Chicago-style.  Our initial plan of a simple beach gathering had to be slightly altered for fear of Luka and his balloons going airborne.  So we shifted the whole deal indoors to the Cheesecake Factory right next to the beach.  Despite the blustery weather, more than 30 of our close friends, professors, neighbors and kids showed up to see Luka (we know it had nothing to do with us).

Thank you to each of you that braved the weather to come out and catch up, in many instances, it has been years, in all instances - it has been too long.

Despite his jet lag, Luka seemed to enjoy the party (and the various naps he took in people's arms).

Good times, good friends. Thank you all

(And apologies to those that could not find us, we made multiple trips to the beach to make sure we let everyone know that we moved indoors)

Here are a few photos from the party:

LA-babe

Hmmm cheesecake

Luka napping in aunt Sherril's arms

Birthday boy

Professor Bender - the instigator of it all!

With  uncle Eric and aunt Cinnamon.

Exhausted boy in the car afterwards.

Luka in the City of Angels

Luka finally set foot on his other homeland today.  As usual, it was interesting explaining to customs the purpose for our trip to the US was to 'visit' family - when we are all traveling on US passports, and Luka has about five other countries, other than the US in his passport, with no US exit stamps.  Customs notwithstanding, I am happy to report that we arrived in Los Angeles in one piece, and that Luka was an absolute superstar. The 3.5 hour flight from Dili-Singapore was uneventful, the plastic cover on the mattress in the Ambassador Transit hotel was unfortunate (meaning none of us got any sleep) and the 03:45 wake-up call brutal - but our upgrade on Delta came through!  So it was the Luka flew lie-flat from SIN-NRT, and in Seat 1B (for 1 B-day thank you very much) on the flight from SIN-LAX.  Out of nearly 24 hours flying (not counting transit times) he fussed for exactly 20 minutes, and after a change of scenery, he was back up and running.

We are at our dear friends home in Marina del Rey where Luka finally got to meet his other cousin, Riley.  To amuse our little jet-lagged peanut we took a stroll to a lovely local park in the Venice canals where Luka got to ride in a swing for the first time and pretend to steal a car (thanks in part to the borrowed hoody from Kaito).

Here are a first few shots of Luka in LA...

Chris and his 'twin', Doug with his little girl Riley

First swing ride...

'Ride it like you stole it!' Luka sporting
it LA gangsta style in his hoodie (thanks
to Kaito)

Our little jetlagged man.

Sri Lanka Shenanigans

Luka the main flirt. 

What better way to spend a day than lounging at the beach/spa/pool of a nice hotel with awesome people.  Luka agrees.

Camp Luka, poolside.

A few of us invaded the pool of the Mt. Lavinia Hotel on the coast of Colombo.  Many Lion Lagers and a bottle of Arrack (thanks Leo and Sara) later - we were pretty well established poolside.  Luka was loving all the attention, swimmig, jumping on everyone.  Alas, even this ever-ender has to 'recharge' (what we call 'sleeping' in this house) for which the PeadPod came in every so handy.

Look how big I am now since we took the train to
Edinburgh in July, autie Sara!

:)

Traveling through Sri Lanka

One of the shrines within the temple

 
Despite the slightly longer than anticipated drive, the trip to Kandy was totally worth it.  We hired a local guide, though slightly senile (he kept repeating things over and over again), ancient and lisping - he was a wealth of information about the important place of Sri Lanka in the Buddhist faith.  He carefully explained all the details in the Temple of the Tooth, the most revered temple in all of Sri Lanka where, legend has it, a tooth of the Buddha is kept in a gold casket (well, seven actually).  Throughout our tour of the sprawling temple, Luka was a trooper.   Since it was a no-shoe temple, it was also a no-stroller temple, so he rode along happily in his Ergo Carrier, entertaining all the Sri Lankan grandmothers along the way who delighted in eliciting a response from him...right up until he passed out (see photo).

Our super traveler having a much-deserved nap after
smiling at each and every pilgrim in the Temple.

In addition to the temple, we took a stroll down the main street, ate fresh roti for lunch, and had a beer (or two) at the old colonial Queens Hotel, where Luka also enjoyed his lunch and a couple of nappy changes.

Chillin' out old school at the Queens Hotel

Tonight we're off to dinner at the groom's family home in Wattala.  We're packing Luka's dinner, pajamas and his collapsible bed to make sure we ca enjoy the night without worrying about what he is up to at home.

A beautifully painted door inside the temple

Rest Stop

Yummie, yummie - mixed juice.

Whilst visiting Sri Lanka, we figure it only fitting to visit the most revered temple in the nation.  The Buddhist Temple of the Tooth, located in the lovely town of Kandy.  The driver turned out to be slightly longer than we anticipated, leading to a nearly 11 hour round-trip for only 3 hours in Kandy. Luka was a trooper ad didn't scream nearly as much as I would have in his position (strapped into a car seat facing the front end of a bus trailing way too close for comfort!)

We were picked up by a driver in a Toyota Prius at 0730, and set off on our adventure.  Along the way we stopped for juice and nappy changes.  At our rest stop, Luka just would not let Chris have his juice to himself - so, was introduced to his first fresh fruit juice.

More on the temple shortly...

Hey! Give me more juice!!

Luka's new friend: Rennie the Rescue Bulldog

Hey there! My name is Luka, you
drool a lot!

Luka made a new friend yesterday - his name is Rennie.  Rennie is a rescue Bulldog from Amman, Jordan that had a rather rough start in life before our good friend saved him.  We figured Luka has found 'his people' in Rennie - let's see - they're both 'stout' and close to the ground, have cute bottom front teeth, chubby cheeks - and drool a lot.

Hey there little pink dude - let me give you a kiss.

Christmas Day in Sri Lanka

After camp Changi was dismantled, we boarded an overbooked flight full of returning Sri Lankans to Colombo.  Despite our best efforts to sleep Luka as much as possible, the combination of the sneezing woman behind us, and all the fascinated Sri Lankans at this smiley baby who were constantly engaging with him, making sleep the last thing on his mind.  Traveling with Luka has now become somewhat like traveling with a small tornado.  As when he was little, he remains an excellent flyer (no screaming, no ear aches), it's just that...well, there is no sitting either.  So we play defense by passing him back and forth as he lunges himself at the back of the seat, all the while smiling at everyone and everything he can lay his eyes on.

Scrub-a-dub-dub - Luka's in the ... sink. 

We survived the flight and arrived red-eyed at Colombo International Airport somewhere in the vicinity of 0400.  We were met by a lovely driver who transported us the roughly one hour to a friend's house in a lovely part of Colombo.  We tried to thwart Luka by giving him his second 'bad tyd' of the evening by showering and bottling him at 0500 hoping for at least a few hours sleep.  True to form though he was up at 0630 and ready to go.  We spent the day in a bit of a sleep deprived daze, but relaxed by our friend's pool, took a stroll to the supermarket, and then had a lovely Christmas dinner with an American-Ghanean couple living here in Sri Lanka.   But not before we gave Luka his Christmas bath.  Not wanting to get into the shower right before dinner ourselves, we opted for the second best thing.

God bless good friends who welcomed us into their home for Christmas, and god bless Luka and his sense of humor. 

Atauro Island

Luka decided to treat auntie Becca to a trip to the local island about an hour off the coast of Dili.  Here are a few photos from our recent visit to Atauro island.  The jist of it is a small eco resort with five cabins, solar power, pit toilets, bucket showers, good food, plenty of sunshine and cold Tiger beer.  What's not to like?

Friday had us chilling in the cabin, swimming and watching Luka trying to feed himself spinach.  On Saturday we wandered out to the local market where we had a fish meal and some local cold drinks, and ventured out on the back of a tuc-tuc to the local Italian restaurant (note: order the morning you plan to have lunch there or prepare to wait 2.5hours for a pizza - fortunately we were forewarned). 

We had an absolutely wonderful weekend teething, cold and broken down water taxi on the way back notwithstanding.  

Luka hanging out with auntie Becca

Fishing nets adorn a local eatery on the beach

Enjoying fresh coconut milk from the source

Luka's voyage out on local transport a la tuc tuc. 

Chillin in my swim trainer out front of our cabin

Pre-bedtime bath

Blessed family

Sunset over our cabin and beach cabana

Weekend island getaway

It might seem like an oxymoron to go on a weekend island getaway, considering that we live on a fairly small island...but that's exactly where we are. After recovering from our Thanksgiving feast (photos to follow soon) we hopped a water taxi to Atauro island, about an hour's ride off the North coast of Timor and booked into Barry's Eco Resort. A lovely group of 5 thatched huts, the resort runs on solar power, pit latrines, good food, cold beer, and friendly staff. Activities include daily trips out to the reef by boat for snorkeling, hikes, a trip to the local doll factor, dinner at the Italian restaurant and dive trips can be arranged. The weather is great, its quiet and the water is 20m away from the porch. Can't wait to come back!

Dabbling in Dili

After nearly 36 hours of traveling we arrived in Dili yesterday afternoon just after 1400 local time.  Considering that the trip involved three continents, four countries, three connections, two new parents, a four-month old infant, a profoundly deaf grandmother, and over 160kg of checked luggage for a 60kg allowance on the last leg of our trip, I am happy to report all went splendidly.  I duplicated Luka's bathtime routine by bathing him in a nice over-sized bathroom sink in the business lounge at Cape Town International, followed by a nice feed and a sleep in Business Class on EK 771 to DXB.  Unfortunately, due to bad weather in Dubai our flight departed late and was stuck in an hour-long holding pattern outside Dubai before we could land, thirty minutes after our connection departed.  The ground staffer at the transit desk resisted bravely when I insisted that the flight the next day simply wouldn't do - and we soon secured seats on the next flight out.  Singapore was as uneventful as only an overly-efficient Asian city can be, with everything running like clockwork.  Fortunately for me the gate agent took great pity on me and allowed me an additional 50kg of baggage, charging me for only half of what I expected.

Upon landing in Dili Luka met with the harshness known as 'heat' - something he has had the pleasure of avoiding for the past six months, ever since the two days he spent outside the NICU in Darwin.  We came home to an overjoyed (and yes, slightly underfed kitty, turns out even Afghan refugee cats don't like to eat cat litter no matter whether it is mixed with wet food or not).

Thanks to my almost-as-efficient-as-Singapore-airport mom visiting, we managed to unpack about 90% of our stuff last night.  She spent the entire time arranging and re-arranging a room for Luka where he will be changed and cared for in the first weeks while he still sleeps in our room.  Thanks to our friends and fellow-new-parental-types Maarten and Annabella who brought delicious take-out, we did not have to go to bed hungry.

I must say, it was not without some emotion that I stood in the dressing room adjoining my bathroom unpacking, thinking about the last time I stood in that room.  It was March 21, a day before Chris' birthday.  I was 30 weeks pregnant with a as-of-yet unknown him/her, experiencing mild 'cramping' as I tried to imagine what makes sense to pack and to leave for whatever it was that I was leaving on a plane to Darwin for.  I remember looking at my clothes thinking "what do I pack, will I come back, will I be a mom next time I come back here..." - I guess the answer to that was yes, it would be on 29 September, the day before my own birthday, when I returned to the place where our story began.

Thanks to everyone in Dili who kept Gus alive, thanks for the lovely welcome chalk message on the pavement outside our house, and thank you for the caring messages, support and prayers.  It's good to be back.

Flying for a Four

As far as traveling goes, four continents before four months' old is not bad going. That is exactly where Luka is headed when he touches down in London tomorrow to attend his mommy's graduation from Oxford University. I will admit that the reality or even possibility of this trip was far from our minds when he surprised us with his arrival in March. We are thrilled that he is doing so well, and so far (touch wood of course) has proven to be an excellent traveler (much better than his napping skills!).