3 weeks and 6 days pregnant

It is J's 35th Bday and I did another pregnancy test and it was a bfp (big fat positive) I term that women use on the pregnancy/baby forums. I think J is convinced that we are pregnant. It is all very early days so I am a bit cautious about this. J still wants me to go to drs to confirm so I have a drs appoinment on Saturday the 1st August so we will see then. SO far only symptoms I have had is a lot of saliva in my mouth, that at times I can not sleep as it clogs my throat and I have some immsomia too.
I went to Uni today, I did not make a cake for Js bday but I think he is happy that we are going together on another little adventure.

3 weeks and 4 days

I just did a pregnancy test behind Js back and it was positive. The second red line was faint but it was there. I am 4 weeks and 4 days pregnant and I knew I was pregnant last week. My periods are not due till Friday 31st and J said not to do a test until Friday but I can not wait.
We just got back from the Hunter and from our six weeks holiday. It is so good to be home, having a kitchen and sleeping in a soft clean bed, and not a tent. I mean the tent was nice but the bed is nicer. I have not been able to sleep at night and have weird thought and now I know why.
I know when all this happened, when the act to conceive the baby occurred. We were in Cairns, we were in a tent, Joaquin was asleep. I had made zucchini patters with potato mash, Joaquin had eaten a few while watching Diego and Dora on the LCD screen J had set up in the car. The tv shows are fed by an ipod system, quiet brilliant, and we can change and pick what he wants to see all trip.
We also had some left over fresh oysters J had bought at lunch, that we ate for lunch along with prawns. A very very yummy prawn sandwich. I did not have oysters and zucchini fritters, but J did and was quiet hyped. He talked to the guy staying in the camp-trailer who was heading up north on a fishing trip. He told the guy who was from Western Australia all the facts about fishing up north and catching bronze whalers. We had just been back from the north and heading south. Our 4-wheel drive was covered in red dust and was still red after J had washed it and vacuumed it at the car wash up the road.
Anyway that is the night it all happened, I had gone for a run at 7am. Left the tent and ran up the road to the hills behind the caravan park and felt really good all day.
Anyway from Cairns to Kurramine to Airlie Beach to 1770 to Bribie Island and Surfers Paradise I knew I was not feeling just right. I have been running in the mornings trying to train to City to Surf but I have been feeling bloated and can not sleep at night.
The first day of my lmp was Friday 3rd July, that makes the estimated birth date at 9 April 2010.

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.

18 months

Joaquin is nearly 18 months, that means he is nearly 1 year and half, where has all the time gone?
Well he certainly is gowning.
He just had one wheetbix for breakfast with milk and his bottle (approx 200mls) before that, and now I am making some Vegemite toast for him.
I stopped breastfeeding approximately 3 weeks ago (the same time my rash came). I am very obsessed with this itchy scratchy ugly rash. Luckily through the day it does not itch just looks horrible. At night at about 4am it itches and I can't sleep.
He loves to play by himself but if I sit on the ground with him and play or watch him he comes up to me and gives me lots of kisses. How beautiful!
He loves to make trains out of the plastic blocks and push them along, actually he loves trains and loves Thomas the tank engine.
He is having his 18 months chickenpox vaccination next week, I hope he will be ok.
He had some diarrhoea last night and was not happy, even though he is eating well and I gave him some boiled rice with a tomato and cheese sauce and broccoli and zucchini.

Words at 18 months

Words he has learnt the last month.

moon pronounced moaon
Luna he knows it means moon but says mooan instead for moon and points to the sky
toash for toast
shower for shower
bath for bath
siiiii for yes (nods)
nooo for no (moves head side to side)
boohbah for boohbah the tv children's show
toomash for thomas the tank engine
bob for bob the builder tv show
shoosh for shoes
meow for cat
browobrow for dog
choo choo for train
tren for train
yummmm for yumm
mmmm for yum
agua for water (has known this since he was in Argentina)
mami for mami
da dad for dadi
nani for nana
poppy for poppy
abule for grandparents abuelos (he learnt that over 2 months ago in Argentina)
pan for bread
sombrero and hat, knows what they mean and touches his head
avion for plane
areoplane for plane
pish for fish
du for ducks
dotdotot (the horse gallop sound) for horse
pera for espera (wait)

At home on the balcony

This week J mum has come to visit and has looked after Joaquin while I go to uni and try to do things. But for me there is not enough hours in the day to do everything. The weather is starting to be nice and warm and after uni we played around on the balcony. Joaquin loves it outside and he has been a very good little boy for his grandmother (Nani).
It has been good for me to be able to go to the uni and get away a little, I still have the rash and I went to the gym and ran over 7km and the rash and little red dots got redder and very fired up. I hate this rash with a vengence. I think why me? But i guess it is relatively harmless and does not really hurt me or itch me.

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 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!

Puppet show with Joaquin

Joaquin is saying a lot of new words
Agua
Abuelo
Abuela
He tries to say uno dos tres.
So he is learning spanish.I think he misses his dad alot and says Da da and wants his daddy to appear.
Jason, who is in Sydney misses him terribly too.
i think joaquin needs to see his dad
We went to a puppet show at 4pm at the Melipan yesterday. I really enjoyed it and so did Joaquin and my mum.
The show was called El Becado and was about a young clown that won a scholarship to a magic school. The teacher of the magic school was an old witch who ended up teaching him a few things and ending up finding love. There was scary part where the demon of dance starts to move and yell and blow fire, Joaquin was scared but watched the whole play from beginning to end.
He made friends with some of the little girls who had gone to see the play and when they called out his name he walked to them and hugged one of them.
Afterwards we went to the local Irish Pub, had a picada, Joaquin had some fritas and un tostado de queso y tomate. He loved being out and sitting in the booths eating, drinking out of glasses and watching the people practice tango.

He loves going out and playing in the garden, throwing rocks in the creek.

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.

the name game

I just found this post at Lovely Design and I have the same problem as Sharilyn and can relate to this.
Joaquin has his father's surname but not mine :(
I chose his name which is rather spanish but there are no indications to his russian-jewish roots in his name at all.

This is my brother, Joaquin and I at the carousel on Sunday night.


My parents, my brother Sebastian and Joaquin

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

photos from Esquel Sunday

Waking up after an afternoon sleep on Sunday



Playing on Sunday afternoon


Merry-go round in the Plaza

Sunday morning in Esquel

Joaquin is sitting quietly in his high chair having some vegemite toast (wholemeal bread made lovingly by my mother every morning), he already has had his oats and his bottle of milk and his morning breastfeed at 9am.
The racing cars are on tv, something my dad watches religiously every Sunday morning. Joaquin is watching the cars while eating his toast. He just said Dada and I think he misses his daddy.
He calls his grandfather ta-t-ta, after my dad yelled one day "Los perros se quedan afuera" (the dogs should stay outside) and Joaquin tries to mimic him but only gets ta tat ta ta ta ta. Now every day and moment he sees his granddad (abuelo) he says Ta-ta, so maybe my dad will be known as Abuelo Ta-ta.
Abuelo Ta-ta said he will take Joaquin down to the Arroyo Esquel with his tricycle after he has finished his breakfast and as it is sunny outside I think it is a good idea. I am trying to catch up on writing and finishing my proof for a paper that is about to be published. Jason is in bed hopefully sleeping well after arriving this morning. Jason has written a beautiful email and I miss him so much.
I am feeling not too good, with a sore blocked ear and remnants of a sore throat and Joaquin woke up during the night crying and I tried to breastfeed back to sleep but he breastfed then I put him in his cot and he cried and as I am sleeping in a bed next to him he sees me there and calls out for me. So i finally got him to sleep by moving the cot with my hand, rocking it and he actually liked that and went to sleep.
I think he is still tired this morning, as he was upset when I opened the door of tha cabin with the keys, he wanted to have the keys and open the door himself. He then walked over to the car and tried to open the boot with the house keys. He is such a funny little boy, very persistent, and he knows what he wants. He is very creative and wants to learn about his world around him so much. At the same time he is cautious about what he does and actually thinks about things, you can tell by his facial expression and his eyes.

Friday the day you went away

Jas has left on a bus to Bariloche (4 hours) and then will be flying to Buenos Aires, then to Santiago in Chile, then to Auckland in New Zealand and then to Sydney in Australia. What a long trip and I miss him terribly. I do not know how I am going to handle this time apart, I do not know how Joaquin will handle it.
I would like to write something every day about Joaquin so Jas can read it and find out what his little son has been up too.
When we got back from the bus station we were all very sad, Joaquin has been saying dadi dadi quite a bit, he waved to Jas as Jas was on the bus, and later Jason has confessed to me how upset he was as the bus left the station on the way to Bariloche.
Once at home we gave him a bottle and I put him back to sleep in his cot. He slept till 10am and then all day I spent in front of the computer waiting and watching the airports web pages the arrivals and depatures of each plane that was carrying my Jas further and further away from me.
He caught all his planes well and should be arriving at 7pm (Saturday night) Argentinian time in Sydney. We miss you Jas get home safely please!!!

in patagonia with Joaquin

In Patagonia,
In Esquel, with my family.
Joaquin is asleep in the cabin, he is sleeping only one sleep a day but I think he is still very tired. He does sleep well at night, going to sleep at 9.30pm and waking up at 9am already full of beans.
He is a very funny little boy, he loves to put crayons together and likes to pile things of similar structure together.
Yesterday he was playing with the crayons on a cushion and lined them up together.
He can hold a pencil and we all saw him walking around with my mother's notebook and a pencil making notes holding the pencil in his hand as if he was taught at school, yet he is only 15 months old. He knows how to draw with crayons on paper as well.
He is eating well and still enjoys veges with tomato based sauce.
Jas and I think it is so cute how he calls Jas "Dadi" with such a strong English accent. Were does he get that from?

15 month mile stones

We are in Esquel... Patagonia visiting my parents los abuelos.
These photos were taken the other day just by the Arroyo Esquel (Esquel stream) that is 50 meters from my parents house. It has been very cold and there is a lot of snow on the mountains around Esquel.
Joaquin is nearly 15 months old, time is passing so fast.
He is walking very well nearly running.
He is also saying a few words.
As of today he can say
Dadi(for Jas)
Mumi (for me)
Tatatatata (for el abuelo y to say Los Perritos se van afuera)
nana for banana
ba for bath
Abue (for Abuela y Abuelo)
Nan for Grandma Gemma
Mia for mine (mia mia mia)
He can build a tower of more than two block
He throws out the toys of the bath when he sees me with a towel about to get him out of the bath.
He is scared of bowling balls and any bowling show on tv (We were watching a movie with Woody Harrison and bowling and an Amish bowler and he got scared and Sofovich on Argentinian tv with a bowling show and he cried when he saw the bowling ball knock over the pins.
He knows how to do high fives or dame un cinco
He shakes hands
He loves to dance
he loves to twist around and turn on one leg.
He loves to kiss himself in the mirror.
He is learning to blow kisses with his hands and also by putting a one finger to his mouth and blowing a kiss
he loves kissing mami and dadi good night.
He hands over his milk bottle when he has finished to mum or dad.
He knows how to change channels and work a remote control.

hardworking mothers

Inspiration of a hard working successful mother:
J.K. Rowling, author of the best-selling Harry Potter book series, delivers her Commencement Address, “The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination,” at the Annual Meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association.
Listen or read here speech here

I found that link here at this blog about another hardworking mother who writes from Australia.