Joaquin is 18 months

He is 18 months and had his vaccinations last Thursday (chickenpox). He was very brave and only cried after he saw the injection go into his arm, then he was fine after the nurse began to blow bubbles.
He is a very good little boy, very intelligent.
He understands when I speak to him in Spanish and when Jas speaks to him in English.
He understands when I tell him to put the placemats on the table in Spanish. He grabs them from my hand and puts them on the table one by one.
When he uses something he then puts it back. This happened yesterday he played with the brooms on the balcony and then when it was milk time before his afternoon sleep he saw the milk and then put the two brooms back to where he got them then ran to me to get his milk.
I love him so and can not believe this little one came from me.






Words he knows now
toast (he says toassht)
tostada
moon (he says mooooan)
luna
zapatos
shoes (he says shooos)
perro (he barks softly)
gato (he mioews so beautifully)
cat
horse (he clickity clacks)
today I heard him say mooo for cow in a book
pulpo (he says the pulpo for octopus)
puppy (he says so cutely poopy)
wombat (he knows what it is and brought us the wombat book last night when we asked him to say wombat, he says bomba)
agua (he says this word)
avion (he says this word)
camion (he says this word)
beer (he says this word)
tea (he says this word)
thomas (he says this word)
henry (from thomas the tank engine)
bird (he says berd)
mesa (he understands)
pera (for wait espera)
sentate (he understands and sits back down)
noooo
siiii
shakes his head for no
head forward for yes

At the beach with Joaquin

We went to the beach this morning, it was very hot and by the time we had stopped at Clovelly shops to get a cafe and papers it was already 11 and the hottest part of the day.
The water was beautiful though and cooled us off immediately.
Joaquin was scared at first but loved it afterwards and could not get the smile of his face. He also played in the sand with his dadi.

Joaquin playing with chickens

Having fun in the garden.
Feeding the chickens, collecting eggs, playing with the trucks in the sandpit.
Joaquin loves being outdoors, without shoes on. I am trying to get him to wear his hat at all times when out, he is trying and a good little boy.

November in Scone

These are photos taken in Scone.
Jason is in the photos and Sophie, Joaquin's cousin who is 1 week older than Joaquin.

Joaquin en Esquel 16 meses

Joaquin loves hanging out with the bookcase in his pjs and trying to find a good book to read


He is also very curious and wants to be in the kitchen when La abuela is cooking or cleaning. He loves pots and pans and forks and spoons and knows which drawer they are stored in and when he takes them out he puts them back in.

Very busy busy

This morning I got up at 4am and so far since Jason has left I have been very busy and it has all been a bit chaotic here at my parents place.
My brother also left for Cordoba ( a very long bus trip away to the north of Argentina) on Monday morning and it is just me the little one, my parents and my great aunt, as well as Bondi the dog. Coogee the dog came back to my parents place a few weeks ago, after going missing for 6 months. But last week a family came past our place and demanded their dog back. She had been lost and ended up befriending another family who kept her as a family pet(they call her Perla). My parents decided to let her go as the son of this family was so distraught without her and was crying outside the house wanting his dog back. Even though it has been my parents dog since she was a puppy and my parents desexed her and look after her and have taken her to the vet and have her registered under their care etc. In the end it was like the classical tale from the bible where the baby is claimed by two mothers and the King Solomon says something along the lines of as you both can not decide who is the real mother then I will cut him in two and give you each a half. One of the mothers was so distraugt she said No, do not do this, give him to the other mother. So the king realises this is the real mother of the child, the one who does not want any harm to occur to her child, who would rather her child be alive and well with another, than not.

I am so busy finishing some proofs for a paper, about to start on the presentations for a conference. At the same time I miss Jason so much, and we are not organised here, with Joaquin who wants to get into everything and walks around so much all day.I have been trying to find out about childcare for him, or daycare so he can go and play with other children his age for a few hours and I can do some work and it is not so much pressure on my parents who have so much to do too.

Things to do today:
Send email about proof before 9am
Add corrections to paper before 9am
Make a cover letter for fax before 9am
Send fax after 9am
Go to secretary at the daycare center between 2pm-5pm
Start gym (was meant to go at 9.30am this morning)
Write to confrence about accomodation
Write to friends who are going to conference
Do presentations for conference
Buy ticket for conference
Organise meals for Joaquin
Organise myself

super woman supermum

I wish I was able to write well, elegantly, even eloquently, without spelling errors and more than anything to tell my story in a short easy entertaining way. Well it probably ain't going to happen any time soon, so I will stick with the way I know, and hopefully one day if i have time I can do a creative writing class. Something I was thinking about doing.
Anyway instead of writing well, I am trying to be a better mother everyday and trying to do paleontology but that is not working out too well being a mother and all, looking after a growing 13 month old, nearly 14 month old.
It is very hard, maybe I am not as passionate. I do like paleontology and looking at bones and teeth and learning something new everyday but I have no one really to help me look after Joaquin when I am at uni.
I did take him to family day care but after last week I am taking him out of there.
I do have a friend that comes over on Friday to help but somehow I stay at home with her and hang out instead of going to the uni or sitting on the computer to do work. I am hopeless. But I love my little son who is walking now, more than 10 steps at a time. He is growing up, and I know he would be proud to know I did paleontology while looking after him.
But It is so hard.
Like Alicia Keys sings so beautifully in her song I am a superwoman

Just a bit of venting here when I should be in bed waiting for the little man to wake up and in the arms of my Jas.

at home on saturday

Today was a beautiful winters day, the sky was gorgeous blue and the sun out but a cool southern wind was blowing bringing icy cold air from the southern oceans.
I have been sensitive lately, and upset about little things. I try to keep the house clean, look after my son, I am trying to run and get fit and trying to do some paleontolgy.
I have so many things to do but in the end the pile just keeps growing just as the laundry. I even have began to iron Joaquin's clothes, and Jas mocks me saying that he "does not want me to be a domestic goddess". I do not know why I have started to iron, I guess I do not want to see my baby in wrinkly clothes nor for that matter do I want to see any family members in wrinkly clothes, but if someone has to take it for the team I guess I will stay in wrinkly un-ironed clothes and my two boys can be wrinkle free.

How do mothers do everything? How do they keep their clothes wrinkle free is a mystery to me. I should research this but then I would probably spend hours in front of the computer looking for blogs about ironing and women.

Anyway today was a great day. We started the day with scrambled eggs on toast made by J. S. A and Joaquin seemed to enjoy his. I do have to spread it on his toast so he mistakes it for vegemite, but I also was able to give him some in a spoon. He loves eating and watching morning tv JJJ (the music video show with the doctor) listening to music and dancing along in his high chair. He loves music.
After breakfast I managed to get an appointment with a hairdresser for Jas. Yes he was gay but his salon was around the corner and like I told Jas, "I would rather have my hair cut with a gay man than a woman", gay men have so much more style.
While he was having his locks treated, I stayed at home cleaning and trying to get over our little fight over putting clothes away. I asked Jas to put his clothes away and he said something to the extent "that I am bossy woman and why should he do as I say". Anyway after I threw all his clothes around the house in my hysterical fashion I calmed down and he was able to put his shoes on and go to the hairdresser, while i stayed sitting on the lounge feeling sorry for myself.
I was then able to get out of this ridiculous state and clean up and get ready to go outside with Joaquin, who was just playing on the ground unaware of our fights, well not really I am sure he knows when we fight and get upset.
In the end I texted him and we met up and I said sorry and asked him to also apologise for not listening to me or doing what I ordered. I just want a clean house, a clean bedroom that is my reason for being a cranky old fart.

After we said our sorrys we went for a walk up the road as I had to buy a friend a birthday present. Jas actually looks younger with his hair cut, clean cut and nerdish.
On our walk, while taking about how bad a person i am, and how Jason's hair looks Joaquin managed to get so bored with our conversation that he fell asleep and slept in his pram and we then managed to get to a cafe (Bellagio Cafe) and had lunch. Joaquin woke up and started to eat all my pumpkin salad even scoffing down some of the baby spinach. We ended up buying him a chicken and cheese sandwich on turkish and it was really good. I told Jas "this sandwich is way better than a subways one. The truth is, there is no comparison. Bellagio vs Subway, go with the one with the wanky name!
We are so pleased Joaquin is eating well now, I am so pleased more than anything, I think it is the Jewish mama coming out in me and I just want my son to eat and eat and eat!

We had a lazy afternoon walking home in the wind. At home Jas played with his Iphone and like Dooce says in her blog:
"Interestingly, I have received a dozen or so emails from male readers of this site that said something to the tune of yes, sex is good, but it doesn't come close to the iPhone. And then the signature of the email would say SENT FROM MY IPHONE 3G. Ladies, I think I just stumbled across our salvation".
I think Jas likes his Iphone more than me at the moment, he plays with it in bed and then when he turns off the light then he hugs me.

At 4.30pm a friend came over with the excuse to use my toilet as she was in the area. She played with Joaquin and I was just about to put him down for a sleep, he became super excited and then I handed him to Jas and said "Byee! I am going for a coffee with my friend can you put him down for a sleep?" See I am a bad mother. The truth is I felt a bit liberated being out without my little one, sometimes it is good, sometimes it feels as all my legs and arms and organs are missing when he is not there. In the end Jas told me how hard it was to put him down as he just wanted to play and then when J took his toys away from his cot he cried and roared like a lion until he fell asleep. He is going through a faze, fighting any time he has to sleep in the afternoon. As he is more mobile, he is walking and I think may be thinking " I can walk now, why should I sleep like all the other babies during the day? Let me play Mama and Da Da, I do not want to sleep!"
I may have to start to put him down for a sleep a bit earlier say 4pm and not 4.30-5.00. He is overtired by then and just does not want to sleep, he wants to play and smile and talk in his cot. We have to hold him down as he want to get up and stand up in his cot and sleep. I read in the baby bible that at 13 months they do need a few hours of sleep through the day and the best option if they are not wanting to sleep is to get them obviously in a routine, wine them down before they go to sleep such as reading a story in a darkened room, and then put them down at the same time every day and if they want to play then simply just take away their toys and let them cry. Well Jas did that and he slept over an hour in the afternoon and we were able to get ready to go down to the pub for my friend's party.

pjs in Sydney

This is Joaquin in Sydney in his pjs, they are getting small on him. He loves to play on the ground and always has something to do. He is starting to walk well but keeps his arms up while he walks for balance.

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.

bath time

Joaquin loves having a bath. we still bath him in the baby bath and he just plays and splashes. He loves to play with the bath hose, and Jas blows into it making a lot of noise and bubbles.
He also loves to get into the shower and play with the door of the shower, trying to open and close it.

Saturday in Scone

We drove up last night to visit Jas parents in the Upper Hunter. Joaquin was very good on the drive up and he slept more that half way. He watched some Wiggles on my phone that Jas had put on there. We had dinner made by Jas's parents when we arrived and that was good after the long trip.

Saturday morning was good. Joaquin slept most of the night without waking and had a good breakfast. I think Joaquin is starting to feel much better. Today he played outside with Ozzie the cat while Jas cleaned his car. He went to see the horses with his pop and played on the swings with his pop. He ate well for the first time in over 2 weeks.
He looks a bit thin in these photos but he was very happy to get out of our house and go for a drive.





We had a family dinner Saturday night and all his cousins came over and played. Joaquin loves all of them. There was a lot of playing and Jas really gets into it, playing hide and seek. He took Joaquin with him in his arms as he was hiding and seeking and told me later how much Joaquin liked it.

Things Joaquin likes to do at 12 months

Things that Joaquin likes to do
He likes to play with the computer mouse.
He loves to put the keys in the lock and started to try to do this at 8 months after seeing us open the door with keys. He loves to play with keys.
He loves playing with dad and putting little toys in dad's mouth so then Jas spits them out.
He loves playing in the shower.
He loves his bath and playing with the plastic shower head.
He plays with the animal magnets on the fridge.
He loves the book "There is a possum in the house" and turns the pages always turning the page so he can examine the front of the book.

He likes walking with the firetruck


He loves being held while watching one of us cook in the kitchen, and watches intensely as each activity is undertaken when cooking
He likes putting his hands in glasses with water
He loves the broom, and crawls really fast to the kitchen when he hears one of us sweeping
He loves pressing buttons
He loves playing with the phone
He likes to play with cars

He likes to put things through holes
He loves playing with objects that have cords on them
He tries to operate the microwave
He loves to watch music videos and sits there to watch it
He likes music a lot
He likes to watch Dougie in Disguise, Play school, Booh Bah, Wiggles and learn (from The Wiggles)
He loves trying to take my glasses off and tries to put them back on
He waves a lot
He waves when it is time to go to sleep
He laughs at silly noises

Joaquin is sick

Today we have stayed at home and Joaquin did not go to family day care nor I to the uni. Instead I stayed with him and took him to the doctors as he is sick. He has a rash on his legs, arms, and a few dots on his ears and other parts of his body. He has not been eating well and does not want to bf at all which makes me feel slightly bad. The doctor that saw him was the same one that saw him when he was born from around the corner. She did not recognise him but did say something along the lines of "Time has gone quickly".
The doctor looked at his mouth, his ears, listened to his heart, took his temperature, looked at his dots or rash and said he was just sick because of a virus. He did not have a temperature just a bit red at the back of his throat. I think he has some small sores or ulcers on his tongue as he does not want to eat or suck his bottle or bf.
Yesterday i managed to feed him some cereal for breakfast, a few bottles of milk, a piece of cheese, a yoghurt, 2 bites from a bread stick, some chicken soup with bread croutons and some more bottles of milk plus water.
He was acting happier though and wanted to play all day, he did not cry much nor get upset when i left the room. He smiled at strangers at the doctor's and smiled a lot at me. He came up to me throughout the day during his play to hug me.
He woke up a few times last night and each time I wanted to bf he got upset, Jas was able to calm him and get him back to sleep in his cot. I think he woke up 3 or 4 times throughout the night crying, poor little thing.
He had two sleeps about an hour each sleep but did not bf. I hope he gets better. I am not feeling too crash hot as well and feel I have ulcers on my tongue too. Must be all the bad food from all the parties we have had and been going too.
I do not think it helped that I gave him hot "salty" chips last Friday and some of B's chocolate brownie.

Saturday at home

I made a spinach and cheese pie with fetta cheese and brown rice. Joaquin had a slice of the pie and ate it with gusto as well as a mandarine.
He loves mandarines. He is not feeling himself and had a bit of fever. All the babies from my mother's group are a little sick.
We went shopping today, he went with his dad in the shopping trolley and cried when I went away. I bought some boots and then carried him around Westfield shopping center at Bondi Junction. I wanted to buy him some shoes and he has no shoes with soft soles to walk or practice getting around in. But in the end we had been at the shops for 2 hours and Joaquin had a bit of a fever, he had a warm forehead so we drove home. I gave a bread stick (grissini) in the car and sat with him the back seat, scared he would choke. He was ok and enjoyed nibbling on it with his front teeth. When he got to the end bit I took it from him and ate it, as I did not want him to stuff it in his mouth.
When we got home, Jas bathed him and I got the onions and tomatos ready to make a pizza.
Jas made pizza with his new pizza stone and it was quite delicious. Joaquin had a whole slice but I cut it up in small bite size pieces. We gave him baby panadol for his fever, he had 38 degrees C. He went to bed at 8.30pm and we stayed up watching futureama and big brother.

Friday mother's group

Joaquin was clingy all day, muy mimosa. I went to B's house for mother's group and he cried every time i got out of his site, or even moved around the room. He was grabbing me and wanting me to be close all the time. In the end he started playing with the other babies as long as I was close. He did not want to eat much.
We then walked to the spot with some other mothers and B lent me her pram so I could take J in the pram. My leg is better so I was able to walk with a bit of mild pain. We went to the Ambrosio shop on the corner at the spot and all ordered Portugese chicken burgers, I ordered J some hot chips. We sat outside and I gave him some hot chips. The other mums gave their children some too but i got the impression that most of the mum's do not give their bubs hot chips or junk food. fair enough. I gave him some of my brownie that B made at her house. It was really scrumpcious and warm straight out of the oven.
He was very quite and not his usual self. Then we walked down to B's house and she drove me home, she is so nice and kind.
At home I put him down and gave him a bot and he drank most of it, i tried to feed him a cheese and avacado sandwich and some stewed apple and he did not eat much. He had his bottle and slept till after 5pm. Jas came home early.

Out and about with Joaquin

We went to little Dynamos today with some of the mother's and babies from the mother's group. It is an indoor play center and cafe for kids and parents, it cost $10 for the children over 1 and parents $2. It has a safe soft play area for under 4s and a cafe close by for having a coffee or sitting around watching the older children play on the play structures.
He played on the soft under 4's section and crawled around. he liked the soft play area, played in the small pool with balls, and he loved sitting there and throwing out the balls. However he was very clingy all day and cried when I went to order lunch and left him on the high chair with B and J and their bubs.
He did have a great time apart from him crying. He even went on the slippery dip with A's friend Cynthia who works at UNSW. My leg was still sore so I did not even dare go on the slide.
I got a lift with B and he fell asleep in the car around UNSW so when we got home he was asleep but woke up when I got him out of the car. The lady who helps clean the house fortnightly was there and I told her to clean the kitchen and bathroom while I put him down. He was very tired it was already 2pm and he had woken at 9.30am.
He slept for a while for over an hour but the cleaner made some noise in the bathroom and that woke him up. I got him back down but he woke up some time later. I think he is still out of sorts due to leaving him at family day care!!!

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.

yum cha with friends

Today we had a great day, we went out to the city for yum cha The Regal with my uni friends to celebrate K. R finishing her thesis. yeahh!!!. Kirsten was there with her little boy who is nearly 2 Miles and her partner. The food at the Regal was great as usual, i loved the fried whitebait, the scallop dumplings, the custard buns. I gave Joaquin some whitebait but he nearly choked. He did not eat much just some of a sandwich I had made for him with cheese. After stuffing our faces we walked around the city towards the Spanish Quarter. The Spanish quarter is on Liverpool street, with some excellent Spanish Restaurants as well as the Spanish Club and Torres Spanish deli. we went past the spanish deli , and to our surprise they sell Matambre made in Sydney I think. We bought 200grams and a jar dulce de leche made in Australia.
Then we all went to the QVB to have some cafe and I ordered banana bread and a babycinno for Joaquin and he drank it all and enjoyed it as well as the banana bread. He loved playing with Jas and Kenny and hanging out with my uni friends. He is a good little boy and allows us to go out and enjoy ourself with other adults.
After that the girls walked around the QVB to look at the shops and Jas and Joaquin and Rob went to Dymocks to check out the books. Jas and Joaquin played in the disney section of the book store and there was a Thomas the tank engine train to play on. Jas said Joaquin loved playing with the older 3 year old girls. I bought a book for the party tomorrow for the babies from mother's group.

Feliz cumple con fotos

Birthday cards


Cake made by Kenny's dad from Paris Cake shop


Ready to blow out candles at Centennial park on his birthday


Empanadas made by Jason and Yamila for his birthday



At party for all bubs from mother's group