Today was Luka's first day at preschool without Mommy or Daddy. He went for about 3 hours and didn't want to leave! He was so excited to go that he literally ran the 2 blocks there. He loved it! We were planning on half days 3xs a week but he seems to want to stay longer so we'll see how it goes.
Luka's friends came over yesterday morning for his birthday party. Despite the cool weather (60's) there was a great turnout and we all had a blast! Our neighbor Orville played children's music on his guitar. Top requests were "Wheels on the Bus" and King requested "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay." Luka loved it when Orville played "Happy Birthday" and everyone sang to him. I was so busy that I forgot to take a picture of the backyard while everyone was over. Here is a picture taken in the late afternoon after we cleaned up.
We can't believe our baby is turning 2. It really feels like such a transitional time in his development. He was so excited when we sang Happy Birthday to him this morning in bed. He kept asking us to sing it again. Then he opened presents. Thanks so much to everyone for the gifts. He played a bit, then ate breakfast. He loved blowing out a candle over and over again in his breakfast. We did FaceTime with Grandma Sharon & Grandpa Dennis. Then we went to preschool for his second 1 hour visit. On Monday he will begin half days Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at a new preschool that is 2 blocks from our house. He already has a friend in his class.Then we went to a shop at the end of our street that rents and sells party supplies. He got a balloon and we stocked up on streamers and things for his party on Sunday. We put our order in for a rainbow array of helium balloons for the party. Then he had lunch and played some more and we got cupcakes to share with his friend. But now he has crashed out! Sunday morning we are going to have all of his friends over for a morning brunch party. A neighbor who teaches music to children is going to come over and play songs on the guitar. Luka got a ukelele from us for his birthday and he loves to play it and sing. He made his own song about cupcakes today!
He's such an incredible boy. He is putting 6-7 words together in sentances. He loves to read. Gavin and I both feel so fortunate that our work schedules have permitted us to spend a lot more time together as a family over the past few months. We love Luka so much!
The year is off to a slow star for us. Gavin and I have a lot of open time in our schedules so we've been enjoying more family time and being at home. The weather has been beautiful. Luka and I have been going on bike rides to the beach, playground and marina. Luka has a cold so he hasn't been able to spend too much time with his friends. We visited the doctor to make sure that there isn't anything serious lingering from the croup. At 1 week shy of 2 years old, Luka is 3 feet 1 inch tall and weighs 34 lbs. He is above 95% height and weight. He's a BIG boy. Our pediatrician says that you can double a child's height at 2 years to predict their adult height. In that case Luka will be 6 foot 2.
We left for Sydney on December 13. We planned to be there for 5 nights, but ended up extending our stay because Luka got croup and was unfit for travel. He was having a very difficult time breathing and also would have spells where he would become very aggressive, a side effect of a steroid he received in the ER that opened his airway. So we stayed for 3 extra nights in Sydney and just pretty much slept a lot in a hotel. The weather was considereably cooler than last year, thank goodness, but still nice and warm. Before Luka had croup we went to the Sydney Taranga Zoo, which was fantastic! We were able to have a 'close encounter' with several Ozzie animals including multiple Koala bears and babies, Kangaroos, Wallabees, and an Emu. We also saw the endangered Tasmanian Devils, who are expected to become extinct in the wild in nearly 20 years due to a communicative cancer. The zoo has a project underway to breed them so hopefully this amazing animal will be alive for more generations. We stayed again in Coogee Beach, Sydney with our friend Raanda and then at a small hotel. We went to a beautiful beachside playground where the native birds made a lot of noise (see the video below) and to the beach where the waves were thumping! There are breakwalls built into the cliffs to form adult and kiddie pools to protect people from the riptides.
We then headed off to Perth to visit with Gavin's family for Christmas. We had a lovely time and fortunately Luka was all better. The beaches in Perth are amazingly beautiful. We only made it for one day but Luka loved the beach and warm water. While we were there, there was a shark alarm sounding and helicopters circling. We visited Gavin's sister Julie and her partner Mark at their home where they have a lot of land and lambs, chickens, beautiful birds, dogs, fish and a lush garden. Luka found eggs in the chicken coop, picked tomatoes, spinach, and cucumbers and he even chased the lambs when they went out for their evening meal. In Perth Luka had his first 'baby chino' at a cafe. He had a meltdown in the bath and screamed "I want a coffee!" Don't worry, he doesn't drink coffee. He thinks it's hilarious though to ask for one.
We then headed back to Sydney for 2 nights to break up the long flights. We visited again with Raanda, her sister Mae and Mae's son Miles, whom Luka idolized. Then we headed back to Los Angeles. The flight back was brutal. Luka had a fit when he had to walk through business class to our seats in premium economy, seriously. I had my own internal fit, but at $6000 extra dollars for the upgrade (don't think I didn't look into it) we had to skip it. Due to fog at LAX we had to circle for an hour before landing at Ontario, CA to refuel then we sat on the runway for 3 hours before flying back to LAX. Nevertheless, we survived and are very happy to be home.
We're considering moving to Sydney in the near future to be closer to Gavin's family. It's a hard decision though, as we just built a beautiful home here in Venice.
Beachside playground in Coogee, Sydney.
Watering Grandma Joy's laundry in Perth.
Petting a 7 week old Lamb at Julie & Mark's place in Perth.
With Grandma Joy and Mark.
The Miljkovich family: Joy, Gavin, Julie & Luka.
Babychino.... steamed milk with cocoa powder on top and 2 marshmallows on the side.
Coogee Beach breakwall.
Taranga Zoo with the Tasmanian Devil statue.
Close encounter with a Koala bear.
In the tram at the Taranga Zoo.
The friendly and beautiful birds at the Taranga Zoo cafe.
This year we again headed to Big Sur for Thanksgiving. We broke the drive up by stopping overnight in San Ysidro Valley at The Ballard Inn. Luka loved going up and down the stairs in the main lobby, and investigating the empty rooms. Unfortunately, Luka has inherited my motion sickness, so the drive was very unpleasant for him. We took many stops and tried to block the sunlight out of the back seat.
In Big Sur we stayed in a little cabin called "Archie's" (Archie used to live there) run by the Glenn Oaks Motel. We took short hikes to Andrew Molera Beach and McWay Waterfall. This is definitely the last hike for the backpack. Luka is way too tall for it. He even stuck his legs out the sides at times to stretch them. Otherwise, we relaxed, took naps, ate good food and took it easy. Our cabin was visited by deer and wild turkeys.
This Saturday was rainy so we spent most of the day indoors, except for a quick walk outside with Buddy. We lit a fire in the fireplace, and baked bread from scratch.
Sunday was sunny and beautiful. We went to a birthday party and then made cake and soup!
Auntie Grannie & Uncle Grandpa is too long and confusing. We're going with Grandma & Grandpa. Luka enjoyed his visit with Grandma & Grandpa this past weekend. He wore us all out at La Cabana Mexican Restaurant and LACMA! I was only able to take a few pictures the entire weekend. Otherwise, we all took turns chasing Luka as he went running around and played hide-and-seek in the scultpures.
Luka had candy for the first time. He ate at least 4 lollipops, a mini butterfinger, a mini crunch bar. And then came the huge sugar crash. We went whole hog: candy, pizza and "Cars".
We also made a trip to a local farm and pumpking patch on Sunday with some friends.
