Dec 24,2021
Happy Happy Holidays!
I feel like I must start every blog post baby with... how is it already _____ time? Tomorrow is Christmas, and I cannot believe it.
| Let's start with Luke's news. He started creche in September. He did end up adjusting very well to creche and seemed to be having a great time. His school uses a child diary app where his teacher would say what he ate, write if he had any poos, his nap time, and anything else important , and upload photos and videos of the class. Never having been able to enter the classroom it was a neat thing to see. While we were fully aware and expecting that he would be sick very often in the beginning, we didn't think it would be non stop. He had a fever at least once a week (also several fevers lasting more than 5 days), Hand Foot Mouth Disease, Two ear infections, non stop cough and runny nose, he stopped sleeping through the night, etc etc. Our last straw was around Nov 24 and was finally recovered from another ear infection and he had only attended school two days in November. What is the point of paying (not that is expensive here), having him constantly sick and sometimes in pain and irritable, all of us losing sleep, never being able to do anything because he is sick. Oh, not to mention the covid testing. To see the public doctor anytime you have a fever, you must do a covid test first, or if you don't do that you can go to the hospital.. and depending on the time of day, spend hours waiting there. We are really happy with our decision, Luke hasn't been sick since and we have managed to survive without help. I have been working about 6 hours a week so it's not much. When the weather is nice, Joel takes Luke and Mel on a walk and he can listen to his meetings, but Luke is also getting a little better at playing by himself. We have hired a babysitter for the next few months as I have taken on a few more classes starting in January. |
Luke is a full on chatterbox! He is picking up words all the time and it makes me laugh a lot because I guess he ends up saying what we say often or repeatedly, like "Come here, sit down, clean your hands". It's the cutest. He loves to see animals, and make animals sounds and is still addicted to cars! He loves building blocks and legos, baby shark, puzzles, books, and has a great arm for throwing. We had a few hard months with his eating where he just refused almost anything on his plate. Then Joel and I started eating all our meals with him and things have improved a lot. He also has a little kitchen tower (step stool with a little gate) for him to "help" me cook and see what is going on on the kitchen countertop. He does a good job adding salt, stirring the eggs, and using cookie cutters. He had a little too much fun helping me decorate Christmas cookies. He loves to play hide and seek still and is getting so clever hiding behind the couch or the curtains. He also loves when he drives his car, mom drives his tricycle, and dad hops around on the bunny, oh and of course Mel chases all of us. Joel and I get so tired but he just asks for more and more and more! It's so hard to believe that he will be two years old in 3 months!
I just realized I haven't written about my new job.. China put some new laws into effect and basically shut down private online tutoring companies. It was a slow painful process starting with the news in August and the last classes being held in November. In the mean time, a woman from a Language School in Lisbon contacted me for some online classes she needed teachers for. The classes are sold to companies, so far all of my students work in a large gas company. It is a nice change but also challenging to keep up with the grammar rules they have questions about and the lesson planning. No two classes are ever the same or using the same material so that can make it tough. In VIPKID all my lessons were planned for me and after 4 years, I didn't need to do any preparation.
In the end of October we took a one week road trip through Portugal and Spain. Our first stop was Sines, where we visited Badoca Park. Luke loved seeing the animals, but more than the animals he loved the tractors! He also had fun seeing the giraffes and zebras.
Our second stop was Sevilla. I found the city center and the neighborhood around our hotel (10km from the center) super lively! Everyone (or it felt like haha) outside and enjoying life, drinking coffees and drinks in the afternoon, kids playing, rollerblading, riding scooters, at the parks, in the plazas. We knew that Spanish dinner time was much later, but 8:30 was the earliest the places around our hotel opened for dinner. We were in a bit of a pinch because Luke's normal bed time was around 830pm Spanish time at the time, so we ended up picking up food to eat in our hotel and then another night, we just went to a place that was open but only serving cold tapas at the time. We ordered what we thought was going to be a small ham/cheese board but ended up being huge! Joel and I didn't want to waste but we were getting sick trying to eat it all. We definitely got our fill of jamon on that night. The hotel also had a swimming pool which conveniently, our room had a private backdoor entrance directly to the pool. We were lucky to have it to ourselves as well. Luke loved stopping at all of the different parks when were walking, and I loved the orange trees everywhere! It can so pretty but I can only imagine how the streets smell when the flowers are blooming! The oranges are not sweet so people don't usually eat them, however I read about how they are using them to somehow create electricity!
After Sevilla we headed to Cadiz. We found a great airbnb penthouse apartment with an amazing sunset view! We also really enjoyed Cadiz, again the streets, parks and restaurants full of people in the afternoon until the evening. I took Luke to a park around 5pm one night and him and I both were in shock! He loved watching all the kids playing but had to take it all in. We've never seen so many kids playing. There was a group of maybe 9 year old girls playing all sorts of games on their rollerblades. In some ways it reminded me of playing outside of our house in elementary school, we roller bladed, played 4 square, jumped on the pogo stick etc, etc. I'm not sure if it's the neighborhood we live in, or just different culture, but I don't really see kids playing outside here like I used to when I was young. The weather was perfect in Cadiz, warm enough to enjoy the beach and we were the only ones around, but also not too hot to walk around and explore. We also brought along our Stand Up Paddle board and enjoyed some beautiful paddles in the sea each morning we were there.
We had planned our final stop to be in Alentejo, but it was a long weekend in Portugal and we couldn't find any places that looked like it would fit what we were looking for, so Luke had his longest ever day in the car. We drove 5 hours from Cadiz to Soito to visit the grandparents and get some rest at the end of our vacation. He wasn't super easy to entertain in the car but luckily on this day he slept twice, one hour when we left, and then another hour when we were near Soito. Traveling with a little one isn't the most relaxing vacation but it was tons of fun. Luke has never been a great sleeper out of his own bed and this trip was no different, so it was really nice to have the grandparents help with meals and sleeping in for two nights.
What feels like decades ago, (2018) a lady asked if anyone in an expat group was an ice skater. I replied and she passed my information on some of the figure skaters here who were trying to get Portugal included in the ISU (intl skaters union). I told her I would be happy to help in whatever ways I could. They have big challenges for ice sports here in POrtugal as there is no full size ice arena, there is one inside of a mall but it is tiny. The owners don't see the potential or incentive in holding events like competitions and really keeping the same kids who take lessons engaged in the sport. Some skaters described that parents see the skating classes as daycare, it is rare to find parents who are willing to invest in proper equipment, among many other challenges. Anyways this all to say, they needed someone to be the judge of their first ever national competition. They built an ice rink in Serra Da Estrela from October to April, which they plan to have every year. While I don't have much judging experience I do know my skating. I was supposed to be judging with a judge from Spain but they couldn't come in the end. Joel did a great job helping me to give marks on their program plan so I could review in the end a give their scores after they skated. The Winter Sports Federation was so lovely and made us feel right at home. They paid for our accommodation and all our meals during the weekend. Luke stayed with us the first night and then stayed his first night away from Mom and Dad in his grandparents house. He slept through the night and was a good boy, he only started talking about us when grandma mentioned after lunch they would go to see mom and dad. Joel and I enjoyed a nice hike on the mountains but brrrrr it was very cold but so pretty! We definitely need to visit more often as there are so many areas to hike and beauty!
Jan 21st, 2022
Christmas was lovely. It was a quiet one this year but so fun to see the joy in Luke's eyes. He loved putting up the Christmas tree and seeing Santa all over the house and in his Christmas books. We also were lucky enough to go and meet Santa, he was a little shy but had fun giving Santa high 5's and fist bumps. Santa's beard is so big that he didn't even need to wear a mask. Joel loved Santa's elves too. Luke had so many presents he was a bit overwhelmed. After he had opened one present someone gave him another one and he grabbed it, and immediately threw it and said NO. He went back to playing with his previous present. There were also a few times where we would give him a present and he would go and put it back under the tree. Because of all this, we decided we would just let him open the presents as he pleased, thinking we could do one present a day until they were gone. He then started to understand what was going on and was happy to open a few more. I think we opened presents until Dec 30th. He got a blackboard/whiteboard easel which he loved to draw lines and have us draw Mickey Mouse, a scooter, playdough, remote control cars, puzzles, a car garage ramp, and so many other fun toys! He has a crazy obsession with Mickey so with the playdough he also just gives it to us and insists that we make a Mickey! He loved watching Frosty the Snowman on TV as well.
On New Years Eve we had our American friends over for early dinner and snacks. It was the first time Luke ever had to share his toys at home and he did a pretty good job sharing with Beatrice. The weather this winter has been amazing (for me, not for the farmers/dams) and that day in particular was like 20 degrees and completely sunny. We were in tshirts during the day time, so we were playing in the backyard together until the sunset. It was so cute to watch Beatrice and Luke play together, copy one another, and laugh together.
We hired a babysitter to stay with Luke while I teach class until we send Luke back to creche. It's so weird to be an "employer". It feels like only yesterday that I was in her shoes. Things with her are going fine, but she has been sick and just recently got covid so I had to cancel classes. We haven't figured out exactly when we will try to send Luke back to creche but maybe soon-ish. The good thing about my new good is, no cancellation penalties so no problem if I need to cancel the morning of class. Sometimes when Joel has a meeting where he isn't presenting much, he can also stay with Luke. Luke is doing a lot better playing independently, and especially if Gabby Cat is playing in the background. (Gabby cat is his favorite show on netflix about Gabby and her playhouse cats.)
Joel was planning to run another marathon in April, but has since decided to go for a few half marathons and improve his time. Since Luke' bedtime is now 8pm, he would have to run in the morning and those random nights where Luke doesn't sleep well make it too tough to have a long marathon training run all before the sun comes up and work begins. Joel also got his invisible adult braces. They are similar to invisalign, but another brand. He has to wear his retainers for 22 hours a day and brush his teeth after any food or drink besides water.. let's say snacking in this house is down to an all time low! I better stop buying any because it will only be me eating them!
As I write this, he is on some of the final steps to remodeling our guest bathroom by himself! No contractors! Anything he didn't know how to do, he just figured it out or used help from youtube and so far everything is looking great! He started this after Christmas so it's been going for a bit but impressive considering he only works on it when he has some free time like after work, or a few hours on the weekend. I am so proud of him! I thought it was a crazy idea to try but he is nailing it!
Joel is still working from home quite often which is so nice. We are trying to figure out what we will do for our holidays this year, but it's still a little tricky to plan with Mr Covid taking a long time to make his exit!
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| Helping dad in his home office |
That is life as of lately, lots of trips to the parks, walks, hikes, and library! It is so much fun to watch Lukiko grow! Watching him learn so many words and be able to communicate in both languages is so incredible! I need a sponge brain like him to help me before he passes my skills up! :P
Best wishes and big hugs for the New Year!!Love from all 4 of us,
N,J,M.L
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