A FIRST FOR EVERYTHING

The past month has been a crazy one… hence my lack of blogging. Luke and I have been in South Africa for a little over 3 weeks, and Jake joined us last week just in time for Christmas. It’s been so great to see my family, and to see my mom and dad enjoying this time with Luke. The trip however has not been easy. It took most of the first week for Luke to settle in to SA time… so sleep was very minimal for me. Just as we were both beginning to settle in nicely, Luke got sick, so sleep was even less in my favour. My sweet boy had a burning fever, a red, swollen epiglottis (in his throat) and his stubborn ear infection flared up again. So, we had round 3 of antibiotics for the same ear infection we have been fighting for over a month, and he had a dose of cortisone. Fortunately, it seems we have now finally beaten the infection, and Luke is well. 

This trip has been filled with ‘firsts’ for our little boy.
It’s the first time he has visited with his Gogga and Pops (my parents) and the rest of my family.

MEETING HIS GREAT GRANNY AND GRANDPA

PLAYING WITH GREAT OUMA

We have had some entertaining moments on our vacation too. 

One example is when I asked my brother, 'Uncle Jarryd' to watch Luke for a few minutes while I finished getting ready.
This was the result.

Christmas was a lot of fun. We had a great family dinner on Christmas eve, followed by our gift opening.
Christmas morning was all about Luke. We all gathered around nice and early for Luke to open his presents.
What a spoiled little boy. For the first couple of gifts, he was pretty interested in the paper, but he soon got bored with that, and was only interested in taking the baubles off the Christmas tree. 

 

Yesterday, we decided to take Luke to the beach. Luke doesn't like the feeling of grass under his feet, so we weren't sure how he would react to the feeling of the sand. To our surprise, Luke LOVED every minute of it. He walked with his Gogga down the beach, toward the big, splashing 'bath' he could see at the end. We decided to let him stand in the wet sand and wait for the water to come in and touch his toes... Luke however doesn't appreciate the cold Atlantic any more than we do, and burst into tears when the freezing water reached his feet.
He did love playing in the sand though, and proceeded to swallow a mouthful.

 So, our adventures in South Africa will continue for 3 more weeks. I am EXHAUSTED, and looking forward to sleeping in my own bed again when I get home, but we are loving all the family time we are having here, and we are enjoying watching Luke enjoy all of these 'firsts'. I am so grateful that my family has been able to share in some of his growing up adventures.