Luke turns one and goes to America!

 ONE!!! 

 

How is it possible my sweet baby turned one? Mommy life has been a crazy whirlwind of time! It really feels like yesterday that we were heading to the appointment in Trofa, to have a check up but were surprised to find out I was in labor and trying to find a hospital that would take Joel and I during the start of covid!  Covid cases have been getting better here in Portugal but there were still lots of restrictions during Luke's birthday so we celebrated in true covid style, with a virtual party. We had birthday songs in English and Portuguese and a home made sugar free cake for Luke to go crazy with!  Luke was so cheerful during his party and clapped his hands and squealed with joy for his guests to see. He didn't really get into his cake smashing, but it was funny to see the blue frosting all over! He received a water table, a ball pit, a race car book with lots of sound buttons, shoes, socks, a sun hat, and lots of love from mom and dad! :)

The time leading up to Luke's birthday felt a little bit crazy because we were preparing our trip for America. The restriction had finally been lifted for Portuguese people to leave the country, however we were still nervous about the conditions and if there would be any problems. We prepared so much paperwork and had to have papers notarized and translated by a lawyer, get our covid tests in the correct amount of time, and so many other things before we could travel. Once we arrived at the airport, they had to take pictures of our paperwork, send photos of them to someone while we waited around to finally hear that we could all 3 board the plane! What a relief and a joyous celebration. I have never missed home so much as this year. I never imagined having my first baby but my family only meeting that baby when he was one. Better late than never but woof... it felt like it would never happen.   The airport was not empty, but pretty calm, and we had our covid tests checked 3 different times! :O

Our flight from Boston to Lisbon was pretty great, there were only 24 passengers on the plane. We had the little bassinet and plenty of space to let Luke roam around with no one nearby! Luke didn't really sleep much on the plane, that first flight was about 7 hours and Luke slept probably for one. We decided to try and break up the time in airports with a 21 hour stopover in Boston. It was a bit colder than we were expecting so we didn't get to explore as much as we hoped but we did enjoy some famous Clam Chowder and see a little bit of the city center. All the bays and water surrounding Boston seem so pretty, I would love to go back and stay longer.  

 

The flight from Boston to Phoenix was completely full and Luke wanted to poke the man sitting next to us the whole time! It was quite a challenge to keep him entertained and not poking the man! He also slept about an hour of the journey. As soon as we arrived in Phoenix and he gave big hugs to Grandma and Grandpa!!! 

We arrived on Good Friday of Easter weekend so on Saturday the whole family arrived to dye Easter eggs, and spend time together. We went to the pool, Luke played with his cousin, and had lots of catching up to do!  On Easter we had our Easter Basket hunt at my parents house and then Cody and Alexis hosted us for a baby friendly Easter Egg hunt and special adult Easter Egg hunt! We had ham, mom's famous dinner rolls, salad, and an amazing bunny rabbit cake for dessert! We also enjoyed the warm weather and played bean bags, and nertz! Grandma and Grandpa kept the baby boys busy! :) 

Luke also had his first ever trips to the park! He loved going down the slides, and walking around, hanging onto the playground equipment. He is still warming up to the swings.  The first day at the playground, we were walking through the park to get to the playground and there was a group of 3 coyotes cruising around! We also had my mom's dog, Bob with us. Many people in the park were really worried about Bob and the coyotes, but they never came close to us.

Luke definitely suffered from jet lag and was waking up each night around 3/4am and we couldn't get him to go back to sleep despite that he went to bed at his regular time. That meant by the time everyone else was waking up and ready to go Luke was ready for his first nap of the day! That made things tough, but it got a little better as the days went on. 

 

Joel and I were extremely lucky to have gotten our Johnson & Johnson single dose covid vaccine while we were in the US. Portugal is a bit delayed in the vaccination process and we probably couldn't get the vaccine until late summer here, so that is really nice! I had a crazy high fever for a few hours but then woke up the next morning feeling fine. Joel didn't really have any side effects besides a slight fever.  He also kept up with his marathon training in the desert! I had to get him to drink a lot of water to make up for the dryness. I joined him on a long run on my dads bicycle. They live in such a nice area with tons of bike paths off the road, passing through parks and beautiful landscape! We also hiked to the top of Piestewa Peak, and my dad and I wen to Lost Dog trail with Luke in the backpack. It was such a beautiful time of year to visit AZ again! I missed AZ spring time. 

The 6 big kiddos (my brothers and our other halves) enjoyed a night of bowling together. It was a lot of fun and the grandparents had no problems with both their grand babies at the same time! They are ready for 3 all together in September.  Another night, Joel, Cody, Alexis and I went on a double date for sushi and then played top golf. It was our first time at top golf and we had so much fun!  

We had so much fun and really wish we could have stayed much longer to visit more people but it is tough traveling and making plans with a baby! Hopefully we can visit again soon! :)

When we got back from our trip, Luke  definitely needed to catch up on sleep! After the first few nights of adjustment he slept more than 12 hours at night, and we loved sleeping in past 7am daily! In addition to getting back into routine and jet lag, his first tooth also started popping through!   Our little gummy smile monster is getting his teeth! The second tooth is a few days behind the first, and it seems like the bottom might not be too far behind. 

Luke continued to still take one or two steps during the trip, but in the last few days he has really started taking off. Taking steps from the couch to the TV furniture on his own. And he still cruises wherever he feels with his little scoot, and goes as fast as he feels like! He loves his new tool kit from Grammy and Grandpa which cogs to spin and toy hammers and pieces of wood.  We are hoping the wind can calm down in the next few days so we can play more with the water table outside. Luke loves throwing Mel's toys to her and sometimes popping up behind her and scaring her when she is sleeping. :P He loves saying Dada, once in a while says mama. At the airports and in stores he waves to everyone he sees who will smile at him! He also seems to say, que e, in Portuguese, what is it?, and he points at whatever he wants to see! He loves reading books and is recently really crazy about Green Eggs and Ham, and any Dr Seuss book. We brought back lots of books and gifts from the family in the US! 

Last weekend Joel accomplished one of his bucketlist goals! He ran a full marathon!!! :O The event he wanted to run the marathon couldn't be held because of covid but after starting to train twice for the marathon he wanted to still do it. Some of his co workers supported him along the way. One friend ran the whole thing with him, another cycled with the water and energy gels, his boss and bosses boss, and his son joined him for the last half! Luke and I arrived just in time to catch him in the end! They weren't 100 percent sure where they would finish and did so just a couple hundred meters after they saw us. It was such a rainy morning and I couldn't believe they were still going to do it, but the weather cleared up and he finished in an amazing time! (3 hours 31 minutes!). I am soo proud of him for finishing and doing so in a great time, I couldn't do a race without all the cheering from people along the sides, but I am so happy his co workers joined him to make it all happen!

I am looking forward to the warmer weather (especially after our taste of summer in AZ), longer days, and the end-ish of confinement! Hopefully the numbers stay in control and vaccinations continue at a high rate so we can get back to "normal" lives soon! 

Lots of love and hugs to all! 

Nicole, Joel, Mel & Luke