Joaquin at the beach

We are back in Sydney and Joaquin loves being with his dada.
I am still trying to talk to him in Spanish but every now and then talk to him in English. he was deeply immersed in spanish when we were in Argentina so I have to continue talking to him so he understands spanish and my spanish accent.
He does understand me I think.
He still says Agua, and avion. He says si and noooo.
He is now saying

bob

for Bob the Builder when he looks at his bob the builder socks, and he is so infatuated with Thomas the Tank engine and says

Thomas

in a very musical sweet way when he sees Thomas the tank engine on tv or in his book.
I have been taking him down to the beach and park in the afternoon and on Monday we saw whales I think Humpback whales down at the beach swimming south for the summer to Antarctica. There were a lot of seagulls out at sea and probably a lot of fish around. I could not believe there were whales out there and I followed them around the headlands to the park at the top of South Coogee. I wish I had binoculars with me.
There is even a whale festival here in Sydney.
This is from here so one can recognize the whales by their blows

Joaquin also loves looking at the moon and saying Luna.
yesterday at the park he played on the slippery dip by himself going down it by himself and climbing up it by himself (without shoes is so much easier thanks to our natural grip on our feet). He also let me swing him on the swing and he was on the swing for about 10 min while I spoke to the other mums from my mothers group. He normally is scared of the swings and does not want to go on them.
we are teaching him to go to sleep by himself (well he knew how to do this but while in Argentina we began to rock him and sing to him and pat him to sleep). Now we (Jas and I) are trying to let him fall asleep in his cot by himself like he did when he was less than a year old. Well last night we did the usual bed time rituals, milk, teeth brushing then hugs and kisses and Jas put him in his cot and left him there while we waited in the other room. He cried for 30 seconds and there was silence and i think he fell asleep shortly afterward. Phewwww what a relief, we had a bucket on standby as at times in the past he makes himself vomit when he is left alone to cry it out. I think he is learning again how good it is to go to sleep and to try to sleep by yourself. He is now 17 months and looks older than the other bubs. He is still very tall. Yesterday he was playing with a little boy at the park (a 10 year old boy) and we were all watching him, and the boy picked him up and walked over to some other mothers and said "Is he yours". We all laughed and then I went over to him and said "He is mine, thanks". How sweet!

Joaquin is 13 months and a half

Today we had a wonderful day, Joaquin and I. He is feeling much better and is a happy happy boy. I had breakfast some porridge at 8am and he woke up at 9.30. A friend had called and wanted to have some breakfast at the beach. She came over and we finished dressing him and I gave him a bottle and we went down to Coogee Beach and went to Globe cafe. He was so happy to leave the house, with a big smile on his face and he was quite content to be with my friend E, at first a little clingy to me calling me Ma-ma and wanting to come to me. Then he warmed to E, which is a good sign he is feeling better.
At the cafe we both had a delicious Halomi stack (toast with poached eggs, spinach, halomi and some pesto) it was really really nice. I do not think I could make it as nice and Joaquin had some Vegemite toast. He ate most of it.


Then we went for a little walk and I walked down to his music class which is only a block away from the cafe. It was drizzling by then so we all got a little wet, and once inside the class I took of his bomber jacket and put on a hoodie.
He liked the music class, he sang, and clapped his hands, and looked at the babies, he played with the drums and shakers. He banged on the drums with the shakers and I really do think he knows what Jules the teacher is doing and tries to do some of the same things but gets carried away with all the activity around him. Other mothers and babies from my mother's group were there so it is nice.

After music class a few of the mums went to another mums house for lunch. I had brought along lunch, left over meat curry with beans and rice. He was happy to play and he ate most of his lunch while playing with the two other babies and trying to open cupboards in the kitchen.
He did not have his morning sleep so we left at around 2pm and on the way home in the pram he fell asleep. When I got home I tried to get him out of the pram without him waking to walk down the stairs but he awoke and I knew he would not go back to bed. So i tried but he did not want to go back to sleep, so we played and I started to cook for dinner. I made a chuck steak and eggplant beef stew in the crock pot. I then gave him a bottle and put him in his cot, he did not seem too tired but I knew he was and a few minutes later he was asleep. He slept from 4 to 6 and by the time he awoke Jas was home but we decided not to go running.

Music class with Joaquin

My leg is still not better and J did not work from home today so after breaky and getting ready B from mother's group kindly came around and picked me up for music class at Coogee.
There were not many mums but A came with Sienna to have a look at the class. Joaquin seems interested in the music, he plays with the shakers and knows how to shake in time to the beat on the floor and in the air. He enjoys it and Loves Jules the teacher. He sits close to her and tries to strum her guitar. Jules got out a frog puppet and sang Galump went the little green frog, and the babies sat close to her and listened trying to touch the little green puppet. She also had a sheep puppet that makes musical notes when you open and close his mouth and she sang ba ba black sheep with his mouth. it was pretty cool. some of the babies are just not interested and just want to crawl around. Joaquin loves the drums and plays to the beat and crawls around playing on other babies drums. He went up to the other parents and says hello and plays with them. He is very sociable. We went to T's house for lunch and T made Joaquin a toasted cheese sandwich, and he ate most of it. She has a nice apartment in front of the beach with a nice view of coogee. I then met up with E and had coffee at the cafe Bazura at the beach on the south side. I then walked with J and the stroller to the park at south coogee and met B. We played with the babies and then she drove me home. She is so kind and helpful. I feel bad I can not walk around with my sore leg and back. Can not wait till it gets better.