It's been over a month since our last blog post because it's been a little crazy on our end! At the end of May, Baby L took her first trip to the USA! We were originally planning to only take one trip to the USA in 2018 - a trip to Boston for her one-year birthday (we're still planning that). Fortunately, with the new maternity leave policy that my company started last year, I had some extra time off that I needed to use. G's family was thrilled that we decided to go back to Houston!
The hardest part (or so we thought) of going back to Houston is obviously the flight. We learned from our trip to Vietnam that Baby L is not a fabulous flier. We lucked out on our way from Dubai to Houston, one of the Emirates Airlines flight attendants really took to Baby L, and totally spoiled her with lots of attention and a few trips around the plane (Baby L even got a little trip to business class so I could have a quick break!) We also had a plane that wasn't full, so G moved to the exit row and Baby L and I had 2 seats to spread out - it definitely made things easier.
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| Baby L and her new friend! |
16 hours of peekabo later (ok, not really...only 10 hours of peekabo since she did sleep a little bit!) we made it! The
actual hardest part about going back to Houston is baby jet-lag. Baby L would go to bed at her normal time around 7pm-8pm when the sun set, and then would wake up at midnight ready to play. G and I probably would have been over jet lag much faster had we not had a little munchkin waking us up in the middle of the night! Fortunately, my parents decided to visit us for a few days as well, and my step-mom played with Baby L in the middle of the night and helped her (and us) through the worst of the jet lag.
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| Baby L in the onesie that Ong Ngoai and Ba Ngoai bought her on their honeymoon |
It was honestly fantastic to have both our families together for a weekend in Baytown, especially for Baby L - she had an endless supply of attention, and G and I had a nice break to relax and catch up with our loved ones. We were sad to see my parents leave (and they were sad to leave Baby L!) but we will see them again this fall. Plus Baby L had other adventures ahead of her!
After the ocean disaster in
Fujairah, we decided to try again in Galveston. We stayed at a rental beach house with G's parents for a few days in the middle of the week, before the big Memorial Day crowds came. We're so glad we tried again, because Baby L LOVED the ocean! I tried to be a little conservative with her, playing with her in the wet part of the beach where the waves couldn't quite reach us. She kept pulling me towards the water, so I finally let her head towards the waves and she kicked them and splashed them with her feet, smiling and laughing the whole time.
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| Baby L, in her cute beachy sundress from Granny |
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| We sat down so her arms would be free to splash the waves |
After beach time, we celebrated Baby L's 9-month birthday! No sweet treats in the photo as now Baby L likes to grab things and put them in her mouth. Instead, she gave us this goofy smile!
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| I'm a 9-month old stinker! |
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| Mommy, when can I have cake?!? |
After our trip to Galveston, we spent Memorial day weekend at our house in Houston. It was great to catch up with friends and neighbors over the weekend! We're sorry we didn't catch everyone, and for everyone who did come out to see us, we're so thankful you did! Before heading back to Granny and Granddad's home in Baytown, we had lunch with Granny's side of the family at Lupe Tortilla (one of my favorites!) Yum!!! Baby L was the star of the show and was a doll all through lunch.
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| Baby L meets her great aunties and great uncles on G's side of the family! |
We spent the last few days of our trip back with Granny and Granddad where Baby L had lots of carpeted space to crawl around. We looked at G's old baby photos and baby clothes, did some shopping for clothes and toiletries that are hard to come by in Dubai, and enjoyed the last few days of our time in Texas.
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| Baby elf! Baby L wearing one of G's old baby hats |
We were sad to leave Texas, we really miss living in Houston! Until next time!
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| This Mountain Buggy bagrider is AWESOME - the suitcase is just so-so, but Baby L LOVED the stroller! Now she's really truly a jet-setter! |
