Patience

This has been a long week, and it's only Wednesday! We had such a great and relaxing time last week at the beach that coming back to regular activities with a couple of extra stressing factors has made it a bit hard. Luca and I both caught a cold so we had a lot of irritability going on. On top of that being two is tantrum season, or so it seems. Then we have the implant, new map (program), which means that things sound different for him, not necessarily making him have a better mood. So the other day, while I was doing our 2 h drive from his oral deaf school back home, I had to hear him cry for one whole hour. I did everything I could, and fortunately I had a friend next to me who could help him try to calm down while I was driving. I thought to myself, if one doesn't want to have children, is better not to have them, because when you have children you need to have loads of patience to deal with situations like this, and even more when you are dealing with a health problem on top of that. I am glad I lived in Japan, because there I was so frustrated at times that the only thing that could let me keep on going was being patience. And switch my mind off, since at the beginning I couldn't understand anything. It was a nice ability, disconnect from the world to survive to it.

Esta ha sido una semana muy larga, y solo estamos a Miercoles! Lo pasamos tan bien y estuvimos tan relajados la semana pasada en la playa que volver a la rutina diaria con un poco mas de stress extra lo ha hecho aun mas dificil. Luca y yo nos resfriamos asi que estamos un poco sensibles de mas. Encima los dos anhos son los de las rabietas, o eso parece. Ademas tenemos el implante, con nuevo mapa (programa), que quiere decir que las cosas le suenan diferente a el, y no queire decir que le ponga de mejor humor. Asi que el otro dia cuando haciamos nuestra vuelta de 2 h de su colegio de educacion oral, le tuve que oir llorar durante una hora. Hice todo lo que pude, y por suerte tenia a una amiga al lado mio que podia ayudarle a calmarse mientras yo conducia. Pense, si uno no quere realmente tener ninhos mejor sera no tenerlos porque hay que tener una paciencia con ellos para poder manejar situaciones como esta, y aun mas cuando tienes un problema de salud. Me alegro de haber vivido en Japon, porque alli estaba tan frustrada a veces que lo unico que me mantenia a flote era ser peciente. Y desconectar mi mente, ya que al principio no entendia nada. Eso estaba bien, desconectar del mundo para sobrevivir.

Overall I think, having a child is a great thing, it teaches you so much while trying to figure out what's best for him. It changes you and makes you a better person, it brings you to the limits and you have to be able to deal with it and learn from it. I'm so glad I have Luca and I'm looking forward to many more adventures with him.

En general pienso que tener un ninho es increible, te ensenha tanto mientras intentas averiguar lo que es mejor para el. Te cambia y te hace una mejor persona, te lleva a los limites y tienes que saber como afrontarlo y aprender de ello. Estoy tan contenta de tener a Luca y estoy deseando pasar muchas mas aventuras con el.

A few days of break

This week will go by really fast for us. Tomorrow we are heading to the beach to enjoy 4 days with Luca's grandparents, yes! Luca loves the beach and it will be fun for them to see how much he has changed and how wonderful is to see him respond to sounds.
For us, the little guy and myself, it is a tiring week as well, we went to his oral deaf school today, a 2 h drive each way, and we are returning on Thursday, but since the beach is not far from there we won't feel as tired as we do today, I hope.

Esta semana pasara rapido para nosotros. Manhana nos vamos a la playa a disfrutar de 4 dias con los abuelos de Luca, ole! A Luca le encanta la playa y sera divertido para ellos ver como ha cambiado y lo maravilloso que es verle responder a sonidos. Para nosotros, para el pequenhin y para mi, es una semana cansada a su vez, hoy fuimos a su colgiod e educacion oral para sordos, 2 h de viaje en cada direccion, y volvemos el Jueves, pero como la playa esta cerca de alli no estaremos tan cansados como hoy, espero.

Today I decided to organized my fabric, and it is nice to remember some of them that cannot be seen because they are sandwiched between others. I started sneezing by the end, which means that are accumulating dust and I better use them soon. Needless to say, I went to buy a fabric for a present I'm going to make and ended up with 4 pieces. Very cheap but four! I better get my mind going and start finish started projects.

Hoy decidi organizar mis telas, y esta bien recordar que tengo algunas que ni se ven porque estan como sanwich entre otras. Empece a estornudar al final, lo que quiere decir que estan acumulando polvo y sera mejor que las use pronto. Pero claro, hoy fui a la tienda de telas a por una que necesito para un regalo y acabe con 4 pedazos. Muy baratas pero cuatro! Sera mejor que me ponga a pensar y empiece a terminar proyectos empezados.

If I remember correctly, I had a lot of good ideas by the end of the year, how much of that became reality???? not much, I'm afraid. I better start focusing my life and getting things done! And Luca and all his little adventures are not an excuse. There are so many super mega productive women out there in the blog world, that one wonders how do they do it? OK I'm alone with Luca but still some of these women seem to have much busier lives and get much more accomplished. I'm reading some of their books and trying to get inspired to do more staff for myself and for Luca. We will see if it works.

Si recuerdo bien, tenia muchas buenas ideas a finales de anho, cuantas se convirtieron en realidad? no muchas, me temo. Mejor sera que enfoque mi vida y que acabe de hacer cosas! Y Luca si todas sus pequenhas aventuras no me sirven de escusa. Hay tantas mujere super mega productivas en el mundo de los blogs, que yo me pregunto como lo hacen? Bueno yo estoy sola con Luca pero aun asi algunas de estas mujeres parecen mucho mas ocupadas que yo y consiguen hacer muchas mas cosas. Estoy leyendome un par de libros de estas mujeres e intentando inspirarme y hacer mas cosas para mi y para Luca. A ver si funciona.

By the way, organizing my farbic and this like this in the picture, also get me inspired to create. That was my birthday present from myself :)

Por cierto, organizarmis telas y cosas como esta en la foto de abajo, tambien me inspiran para crear. Este fue mi regalo de cumpleanhos de mi misma :)

Have a wonderful week!

Que tengais una semana muy feliz!

Rainbow love

This has been a roller coaster week. It has been filled with so many intense emotions that it is hard to describe. It is funny because I know that I sometimes forget emotions and when I get them back, then I feel that I remember again, whether they are good or bad. I guess is good to forget although sometimes I wish I didn't. That comes with my personality I guess, I make my life easier by forgetting things and specially when things are not that good. This week though, it was filled with happy emotions. I hope those are not taken away from me by my protective head. Being with Luca with his new found hearing is like showing the world to a baby that already understands so many things, so can actually interact with you in a very enthusiastic way. I want to record each minute of him, it is really exciting. To celebrate, we have been very exhausted talking and playing and I put him in bed early these past couple of nights, and used the time to create something new, something happy, something that reflects how I feel. He could be part of a gay parade with these rainbow pants, but I think they are just for him. He is happy with the way he is and how he acts, and that's why I love him so much. Rainbows with lots of orange, in honor of his dad's favorite color.

Esta semana ha sido como una montaña rusa. Estuvo llena de tantas emociones intensas que es difícil describirla. Tiene gracia porque se que a veces me olvido de las emociones y cuando las vuelvo a sentir, entonces parece que las vuelvo a recordar, sean buenas o malas. Creo que es bueno olvidar aunque a veces me gustaría no hacerlo. Eso viene con mi personalidad creo yo, hago mi vida más fácil olvidandome de las cosas sobretodo cuando son malas. Pero esta semana estuvo llena de Buenos sentimientos. Espero que esos no sean olvidados por esta cabecita protectora que tengo. Al estar con Luca y su nueva audicion adquirida es como si estuviera mostrandole el mundo a un bebe que ya entiende tantas cosas, así que puede interaccionar conmigo muy entusiasmado. Quiero grabar cada minuto de el, es muy emocionante. Para celebrarlo, hemos estado hablando sin para y jugando y le he acostado pronto estos dos últimas noches, y he estado ese tiempo mio para crear algo nuevo, algo feliz, algo que refleja como me siento. Podría formar parte de un desfile gay con estos pantalones de arcoiris, pero creo que son justo para el. Es un niño feliz de la manera que es y como actua, y por eso le quiero tanto. Arcoiris con mucho naranja, en honor al color favorito de su papa.

Blown away / Impresionada

That is what I am feeling this days, since I have noticed that my little sunshine is hearing. Yes, it's like an incredible miracle, all of a sudden he is responding to sounds, to his name and he is making a huge smile because he is enjoying the world of sounds. It is hard to describe the feeling when I am in the testing booth with him and the audiologist plays a beep and turns like if there was an explosion or something looking for it. Of course, it is not like an explosion, but compared to the way he usually doesn't turn to anything, this is how it looks to me. I had tears in my eyes and a huge hurray came out of me, the audiologist and the therapist. It's like magic. And now our journey begins. I need to explain him about life, about the sounds of life and about the sound of things because he needs to learn how things are called and how to say those things. He needs to hear his father's voice, maybe he will remember. I heard it in a video last night and it was nice and refreshing. A lot of work for both of us, but an exciting outcome is waiting for us.

Asi es como me he sentido estos dias, desde que me he dado cuenta de que mi pequenho rayo de sol esta oyendo. Si, es como un milagro increible, de repente esta respondiendo a sonidos, a su nombre y sonrie porque esta disfrutando del mundo de los ruidos. Es dificil describir el sentimiento de cuando estuve en la camara insonorizada y la audiologa puso un pitido y el se dio la vuelta como si hubiera una explosion o algo asi buscandolo. Bueno, no es como una explosion, pero comparado con la manera en que normalmente no se da la vuelta, eso es lo que a mi me parecio. Me salian lagrimas y un gran hurra mio, de la audiologa y de la logopeda. Es algo magico. Y ahora nuestro viaje comienza. Debo explicarle sobre la vida y sobre el sonido de las cosas, porque necesita saber como se llaman las cosas y como decir esas cosas. Necesita oir la voz de su padre, quizas la recuerde. La escuche ayer en un video y fue muy bonito y reconfortante. Nos queda mucho trabajo a los dos, pero grandes recompensas nos esperan.

As usual, a month later

This is the table runner I made for Kelli and Finny's monthly challenge (last month's!). I decided to have a Japanese theme, as usual. I made a drawing of a Japanese woman and then I did some embroidery. I like how it came out. I also used some of my machine's nice stitches.

Este centro de mesa lo hice por el juego mensual de Kelli y Finny (del mes pasado!). Decidi hacerlo con tema Japones, como suelo hacer. Hice un dibujo de una Japonesa y luego lo borde. Me gusta como quedo. Tambien use una de las puntadas chulas de mi maquina.

This is for someone very special from Spain. I hope she likes it, I had to finish it quick because my parents are leaving tomorrow and they will take it with them.

Esto es para alguien muy especial. Espero que le guste, lo tuve que acabar con prisas porque mis padres se van manhana y se lo llevaran.

My birthday party was great, and so many surprises from so many incredible people, I'm so fortunate.

Mi fiesta de cumpleanhos fue increible, tantas sorpresas de tanta gente increible, soy tan afortunada.

Luca is doing well with his implant but so far is hard to see any progress, at least he wants to wear it, that's a progress in itself.

A Luca le va bien con su implante, pero de momento es dificil ver ningun progreso, por lo menos lo quiere usar, eso en si es progreso.

Busy not just with the kids

Our days seem to fly. My parents have been here for a month and they are leaving in just one week. How did time go by so fast? I wish I could stretch it, but I guess when things are good and anxiety levels are low, then time flies.
Tomorrow we have a couple of things to celebrate, with a big party here at my place. Lots of food and good people. Me, I'll be one year older. Always a reason to smile for still being here.

Nuestros dias parece que vuelan. Mis padres han estado aqui ya un mes y se van en tan solo una semana. como ha podido pasar el tiempo tan rapido? Me gustaria estirarlo, pero supongo que cuando las cosas van bien y los niveles de ansiedad son bajos, entonces el tiempo vuela.
Manhana tenemos un par de cosas que celebrar, con una gran fiesta aqui en mi casa.
Mucha comida rica y buena gente. Yo, tendre un anho mas. Siempre una razon para sonreir por seguir aqui.

Other than Luca and his cousins these are the things I've been busy with these days:
More amish bread (10 days of preparation):

A parte de Luca y sus primas en estos dias esto es en lo que he estado ocupada:
Mas pan amish (10 dias de preparacion):

Some Japanese embroidery, a new experience for me.

Algo de bordado Japones, una nueva experiencia para mi.

A new beginning

Luca finally got his external component of the implant which was activated yesterday. It was an emotional and hard day for all of us and at the same time exciting and great. Luca can hear now. Not much, because we don't want to rush him into normal hearing, but he can have that new feeling and get used to it. His reaction yesterday was as expected. He cried and looked scared when he went live. He jerked his implant off and we had to give him 10 pieces of chocolate to try to put it on again. We had to quit after an hour of trying because he was upset and exasperated. But at least that shows that he can hear, he is not used to it, be he can hear. I had to manage to put it back on during the couple of hours remaining of the day and today before he headed back to the audiologist again. I went home thinking how in the world am I going to do that. My parents were concerned that he could be in pain but the audiologist assured us that this wasn't the case. He was just confused and scared of the new feeling. She described it as being in the dark and all of a sudden having the lights turned on. I guess that should be scary if you've never experienced that before.

Luca por fin recibio la parte externa de su implante que fue activado ayer. Fue un momento emotivo y un dia duro para todos nosotros a la vez que emocionate e increible. Luca por fin puede oir. No mucho, porque no queremos apresurarle con un volumen normal, pero puede experimentar esa nueva sensacion y acostumbrarse a ella. Su reaccion ayer fue la esperada. Lloro y parecia asustado cuando le pusieron "en vivo". Se quito el implante de un tiron y tuvimos que darle 10 chocolatitos para intentar ponerselo de nuevo. Tuvimos que parar despues de una hora de intentarlo porque estaba enfadado y desesperado. Pero por lo menos eso demuestra que puede oir, no esta acostumbrado, pero puede oir. Tuve que apanharmelas para volverselo a poner durante las horas restantes del dia y hoy antes de volver a ver a la audiologa. Me fui a casa pensando como narices lo iba a conseguir. Mis padres tenian miedo de que podia tener dolor pero la audiologa nos aseguro que no era el caso. Solo que estaba confundido y con miedo de este nuevo sentimiento. Ella lo describio como si estas en la oscuridad y de repente se encienden las luces. Creo que debe dar miedo si nunca lo has experimentado antes.

We did it. He finally wore it after his mother's persistent tries and forgot about it. I even increased the volume up to the highest level that the audiologist had set, which wasn't too much, but he didn't seem to care once I had accomplished the task of putting it on again for the day. Today, he even clapped when I put it on after our second activation session. It is getting better and he is happy now with his implant. I know it's going to be a lot of work for all of us, but soon things will be better and Luca will be experiencing so many new things he has never experienced or maybe only when he was little. Thanks to all of you who have been thinking of us in such special days! We will keep reporting the new steps in Luca's implant world.

Lo conseguimos. Por fin se lo puso despues de la insistencia de su madre y se olvido de que lo llevaba. Incluso subi el volumen al maximo que la audiologa habia puesto, que no era mucho, pero no parecio importarle una vez que consgui que se lo dejara puesto. Hoy, incluso aplaudio cuando se lo puse despues de la segunda sesion de activacion. Esta mejorando y esta mejor ahora con el puesto. Se que va a ser mucho trabajo para todos nosotros, pero pronto las cosas iran mejor y Luca experimentara tantas cosas nuevas que nunca ha sentido o quizas solo cuando era pequenho. Gracias a todos los que habeis pensado en nosotros en unos dias tan especiales! Seguiremos informando de los nuevos pasos en el mundo de Luca con su implante.