About me and my blog

miércoles, 21 de diciembre de 2011

Memories

My dearest daughter,

Exactly a year ago this evening labor started, the most fruitful labor I had experienced in my life.
Your father and I had gone to my childhood's home to wait for the moment and in the evening of December, 21st I started to feel heavier. Something I couldn't really express felt like you were about to arrive. It was indeed time. You had been expected since Dec., 8th.
My nieces C and A were around and they joined me in my gymnastics and yoga. After dinner I felt like having a cup of hot chocolate and my mother made us one. I remember 'cause never a cup of chocolate has been most enjoyed and regretted afterwards. At midnight I brought up supper, chocolate and tangerines all in a tangle of pain, nerves, expectation. Labor pains got stronger as I went deeper in the night. All by myself I had to focus on hearing the noises of the house to get distracted. However, at dawn the pain grew as a hungry lion and roared and roared. Daylight welcome a pain I had never known before. Painful, yeah but full of different shades. Never a pain has caused such curiosity. I was curious to see the end of it, full of expectations. By the time children were going to school, passing under the window, my husband and I started out to hospital. My sister, a teacher, was also going to school and I recall how pain was pinning me down nearly making me cry when she greeted a pupil's mother with a cheerful "this is my sister, yeah, they are already going to hospital".
It was Dec., 22nd., an ever joyful day, the last day of school before Christmas, a day of Christmas carols concerts, the National lottery draw in Spain. We headed for hospital and the rest is history...
How beautiful were those last days feeling you so near.

miércoles, 7 de diciembre de 2011

Our pre-tot school in pictures

I have been so busy lately that I haven't blogged at all. Facts are I have had to read a lot for my book clubs this month and whenever I have a moment I do some research in order to prepare spaces for M. That's whay I have thought I may show you some of these spaces in pictures.
She has new skills everyday and I am so happy to see her growing cheerful and balanced. 

 

Before the cold season set in, we spent some time in the garden, experimenting with sand, flour, rocks...   



 I left a basket with wooden kitchen utensils in M's playing room for her to explore. She really played with them, taking them out and putting them back in the basket.

Here you can see M climbing to get inside one of the new bookcases we got from a charity shop while my husband was assembling them. These bookcases are intended to contain material for M on their lower shelves.


There she is making music, one of her favorite activities. For 
this purpose, we have set a wonderful tray with instruments in her nook in the living-room.


Another activity that we often enjoy is hands washing -and playing with water-...

 




And, this is the kitchen corner. There, M has a magnet bear on the bottom part of the refrigerator and she likes to take the magnets out and see how they stick back again. She is of course too young to change the several outfits this bear has, but I change them some mornings while we fix breakfast and I then tell M how is the weather that particular day and what clothes the bear might need. 




Every time the laundry basket used to be around M came to it and took the clothes one by one. That's why I gave her some of her own clothes to play with, and there she is trying to put on a coat!
 



For some weeks now we have had this basket full of blue items in the living-room corner. We have explored them several times together. I realize it might be time to change it now... What color shall we have next? Maybe red? Or may I set a Christmas basket now??






I hope you liked our activities!