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Three ballons

Today we had a celebration. It would have been number 39. Orange, ginkgo tree, balloons and cupcakes.

Hoy tuvimos una celebracion. Hubiera sido numero 39. Naranja, ginko, globos y pasteles.

Batman

My son is totally obsessed with Batman. He could have batman everything if it were his own choice. I am contributing to his obsession by making him a batman quilt. He has designed the front, but I take care of the back. I have advanced a lot in it but then stopped for a while (maybe the photography is taking over??). I hope I can get back to finishing it before it is too hot to bear it!

This is the embroidery I am going to put in the back...his own drawing and my embroidery. I love the drawing, he has made it so many times that I believe he could make it with his eyes closed...I had to immortalize it!

Mi hijo esta obsesionado con Batman. Podria tener todo con batman si fuera su propia decision. Yo estoy contribuyendo a su obsesion haciendole una colcha de Batman. El disenho la parte de alante, pero yo me ocupo de la de atras. He avanzado mucho pero de pronto me pare (sera la fotografia que me tiene ocupada??). Espero volver a ponerme y acabarla antes de que haga demasiado calor para usarla!.

Este es el bordaod que le voy a poner por detras...su propio dibujo y mi bordado. Me encanta este dibujo, lo ha hecho tantas veces que creo que lo podria dibujar con los ojos cerrados...tenia que inmortalizarlo!!

Night pictures

Now experimenting in a dark black pitch night. Unbelievable!

Ahora experimentando en una noche oscurisima. Increible!

Crazy weeks

This week is ending very fast and crazy. Today we spent the day at the zoo with Luca's school. It was a wonderful day and the kid loved the animals. It is fun to see how much more involved and interested they are at this age. I remember the time I took Luca to the zoo when he wasn't yet 3 and the most interesting thing for him to do was to jump from some rocks down to the floor, he couldn't care less about the animals. Now he was describing all about sting rays and elephants and zebras and giraffes. Lots of fun.

Esta semana esta acabando muy rapidamente y es una locura. Hoy me pase el dia en el zoologico con el cole de Luca. Fue un dia precioso y los ninhos disfrutaron de los animales. Que bueno ver como se involucran mucho mas y estan mas interesados en esta edad. Me acuerdo cuando lleve a Luca al zoologico cuando aun no tenia ni 3 anhos y lo mas interesante para el era saltar de una piedra al suelo, no le interesaban lo mas minimo los animales. Ahora estuvo describiendo todo sobre las rayas y los elefantes y las zebras y las girafas. Que divertido.

I am taking two photography classes this week. And on top of that, I have a million things more to do and I hope to get through this week in one piece! for now I would just like to share the photos I have been taking, the things I have been learning with Jackie at L'atelier...amazing what one can learn in such a short period of time! It is true, there is a before and after L'atelier!

Estoy haciendo dos cursos de fotografia esta semana. Y encima, tengo un millon de cosas mas que hacer y espero pasar la semana de una pieza! por ahora os ensenho las fotos que he tomado en estos dias, las cosas que he aprendido con Jackie en L'atelier...increible lo que uno puede aprender en tan poco tiempo! Es verdad, hay un antes y un despues tras L'atelier!

Swimming

Luca is swimming. He loves going to swimming lesson. He likes it better than when he was younger. The same happened with basketball and soccer. I think as he gets older he is enjoying sports a bit more. Of course, I took my camera to the pool and while I watched him, I also took pictures of him and played around with my camera and its manual and, not that I quite know what I am doing, but hopefully, I am learning some.

Luca esta nadando. Le encantan las clases de natacion. Le gusta mas que cuando era mas pequenho. Lo mismo le paso con baloncesto y futbol. Creo que segun crece disfruta mas de los deportes. Por supuesto, me lleve mi camara a la piscina y mientras le veia, tambien tomaba fotos de el y jugaba con mi camara y con el manual, y no es que sepa lo que estoy haciendo, pero esperemos que aprenda algo poco a poco.

I captured a tiny jump accidentally in this picture. I like how it came out.

Le hice una foto pegando un saltito de casualidad. Me gusta como quedo.

I also got the conference about Luca's achievements this week. He is doing great, progressing nicely, he is at the level where he should be academically, and pretty much all of his goals have been reached. In terms of language he made a very nice progress and more is expected shortly, but the only thing that I was told that I didn't expect was that he has a little bit more trouble than most kids learning articulation.

Tambien tuve la reunion sobre los avances de Luca con las profesoras esta semana. Va muy bien, avanzando muy bien, esta al nivel que deberia estar academicamente, y casi todos sus metas han sido conseguidas. En cuanto al lenguaje ha progresado muy bien y esperamos que sea mayor aun en poco tiempo, pero lo unico que me dijeron que no me esperaba era que tiene mas problema de lo normal para aprender a articular.

Apparently he has something, that makes him have some trouble getting long words or long sentences pronounced properly. He has trouble getting his brain to make the motor part of the mouth to work how it should. He used to mumble and not move his lips at all. And as the therapists were telling me all of this, it hit me, I had the same thing. When I was little I was like that, I had trouble pronouncing things, I thought I was being lazy...I even had low muscle tone all over my body and needed therapy and lots of exercise to grow out of it. And I did. It seems like Luca only has this problem in his mouth, related to speech (although that might also be the reason why he can't shoot the ball in basketball and why he hasn't been that crazy about sports). It will take him longer than others, it will take more work on his part and on mine, but we will overcome this one too.

Aparentemente tiene algo, que hace le cueste pronunciar las palabras largas adecuadamente. Tiene problemas con que su cerebro sea capaz de hacer que la parte motora de la boca funcione adecuadamente. Solia hablar sin mover los labios. Y mientras las logopedas me contaban todo esto, me di cuenta, que yo tenia lo mismo. Cuando yo era pequenha, tenia problema pronunciando las cosas, pensaba que era perezosa...incluso tenia flacidez muscular en todo mi cuerpo y necesitaba terapia y mucho ejercicio para superarlo. Y lo hice. Parece que a Luca solo le afecta al habla, a la articulacion (aunque quizas por eso tampoco puede tirar la pelota a la canasta en baloncesto y no le han emocionado mucho los deportes). Le va a costar mas que a otros, va a necesitar ms trabajo que otros ninhos y por mi parte tambien, pero esto tambien lo superaremos.

Blanco y negro

And this is just an experiment editing a picture of Luca, ready for bed, in black and white. I still don't know how to edit very well, but hopefully I will learn more as I play with my pictures some more.

Y este es un experimento editando una foto de Luca, listo para irse a dormir, en blanco y negro. Aun no se como editar muy bien, pero esperemos que aprenda mas mientras juego con mis fotos un poco mas.

Who will be my model?

I have warned everybody that I am in the photo taking mode so beware of me and my camera!
Yesterday the day was sunny and beautiful and we went to the park and took a few shots of Luca and his friends.

He avisado a todo el mundo de que estoy con ganas de hacer fotos, asi que esten al tanto de mi camara!
Ayer hacia un dia soleado y espectacular asi que fuimos al parque y le hice unas fotos a Luca y a sus amigos.

First experiments

These have been some of the pictures I have been taking of Luca to try to figure out my camera for the first week of my photography class. It was not easy to do this, specially with Luca as my model, but I think some of the hundreds I took look good although, I would still change things in all of them. At least I have to say that I was able to use my camera in semi manual mode, controlling the aperture by myself instead of all auto like I used to....

Estas son algunas de las fotos que he tomado de Luca mientras intento averiguar ocmo usar mi camara en la primera semana de mi clase. No fue facil, sobretodo con Luca como modelo, pero de los cientos de fotos que tome, alguna no esta mal, aunque yo cambiaria cosas en ellas. Por lo menos puedo decir que he sido capaz de usar la camara en modo semi manual, controlando el diafragma en lugar de ponerlo todo en automatico...

And about Luca's world, I just meet a girl who is also deaf and just uses a hearing aid in one ear and has no hearing in the other and she spoke beautifully, having learned sign language first, then English at 7 and Spanish at 13. It blew my mind and made me realize once and again that the sky is the limit.

Y en el mundo de Luca, justo conoci una chica que es sorda y usa un audifono en una oreja y nada en la otra que no tiene nada de audicion y hablaba perfecto, y aprendio a hablar con senhas primero y luego aprendio ingles a los 7 anhos y espanhol a los 13. Alucine y me hizo darme cuenta de que el ser humano puede llegar hasta donde quiera.

And the photography class has started!!

Will I be able to make photographs with some sense of direction?? That is what I am hoping for. As for now, I am already reading through the manual, which I always dread to do, but it is really important if I want to get the most out of my camera...
The photography course online has started and I am going crazy reading stuff, taking pictures and thinking about what I see...it is so exciting!

Sere capaz de hacer fotos con algun sentido de rumbo? Eso es lo qu eespero. Por ahora, estoy leyendome el manual de la camara, que siempre lo evito, pero que es muy importante si quiero sacar el maximo de mi camara...
El curso de fotografia online ha comenzado y estoy volviendome loca leyendo cosas, tomando fotos y pensando en lo que veo...que emocion!

But today I am posting about a dish I made today. I used stuff I had opened already a few days back and it turned out delicious! I was so proud of myself for cleaning up my fridge with such a yummy dish! It was a leek and onion tart.

Pero hoy estoy escribiendo sobre un plato que hice hoy. Use cosas que ya habia abiertohace unos dias y me salio riquisimo! Estaba tan orgullosa de haber limpiado mi nevera y haber hecho algo tan delicioso! Hice una tartaleta de puerros y cebolla.

I cooked in some margarine 2 leeks and 1 onion until soft.
Then I beat 4 eggs and mixed them with half a cup of evaporated milk, about 1/4 of a cup of sour cream, 1/2 a teaspoon of salt, and about 10 oz of grated swiss cheese. I then added the leeks and onion. I used a frozen and rolled pie crust that I had to thaw out for 20 min. I put the crust in a round pie container and filled it with the mixture. I sprinkled some Parmesan cheese on top. I baked it for 45 min at 350F. MMM MMM

Saltee dos puerros y una cebolla en un poco de margarina.
Luego bati 4 huevos y los mezcle con media taza de leche evaporada, 1/4 de taza de crema acida, media cucharadita de sal, y 250 g de queso suizo rayado. Luego le anhadi los puerros y la cebolla. Use una masa congelada para pasteles que viene enrollada. La deje descongelar durante 20 min y la puse en un molde redondo para tartaletas. Lo rellene con la mezcla. Le puse un poco de queso parmesano por encima. Lo meti al horno a 180C durante 45 min. Mmm mmmm.

Happy Easter!!

hi everyone!
We are welcoming the Easter holiday with lots of rain and thunderstorms and cold!! It makes me sad that the beautiful tulips that surround every corner of this city are being destroyed by the winds and rain. I guess you just have to enjoy the beauty of spring while it lasts because it doesn't last long!


Hola a todos!
Estamos dando la bienvenida a las vacaciones de semana santa con mucha lluvia y tomentas y frio!! Me da rabia que los tulipanes tan bonitos que abundan en cada rincon de esta ciudad sean destruidos por el viento y la lluvia. Supongo que lo que hay que hacer es disfrutar de la primavera mientras dure porque dura poquisimo!

Just a few days ago I was enjoying my new grill with my friends in a nice pleasant Sunday afternoon. Thinking about my photography course that I am about to start, I kept on taking interesting pictures that would give a glimpse of what was going on around me. This is what I got.

Hace unos pocos dias estamos disfrutando con mis amigos de una tarde de domingo muy agusto estrenando mi nueva barbacoa. Como me acordaba que pronto voy a empezar mi curso de fotografia, empece a tomar fotos interesantes de lo que me rodeaba, para dar una pequenha idea de lo que pasa a mi alreadedor. Esto es lo que saque.

And wishing everyone a Happy Easter! we have company around here so I am sure we will be having fun!

Y deseandoos a todos unas felices Pascuas! Aqui tenemos companhia asi que seguro que nos lo pasaremos bien!

lemon cake

I am in a baking mood all over again. I am so much into different things. When sew I sew like crazy, when I bake or cook, I do that all the time and then is the guitar and then the photograph and then whatever else...in a way I wish I would stick to one thing...in another way, I love trying different things, although I may not get too good at any of them. Specially the guitar lol!

I baked a lemon cake yesterday with three different lemon parts, the cake, the syrup that is moistened with and then the glaze! Well, all I have to say, it was delicious!! and it disappeared pretty quickly! I got the recipe from here.

Ahora me ha dado por hacer dulces al horno. Vario tanto. Cuando coso coso sin parar, cuando cocino lo mismo, igual que cuando me da por tocar la guitarra o con la fotografia o con lo que sea...en parte me gustaria centrarme en algo...pero por otro lado, me encanta probar varias cosas, aunque puede que no sea muy buena en ninguna. Sobretodo en lo de tocar la guitarra jajaja!

Hice un bizcocho de limon ayer con tres partes diferentes de limon, el bizcocho en si, el sirope con lo que lo emborrache y el glaseado! Bueno, lo unico que me queda por contaros, es que estaba riquisimo!! y desaparecio muy rapido! Saque la receta de aqui.

Grateful

Today I had a little gathering with many of my friends from around here. It looks like my circle of friends is getting bigger every week. It is great to have so many people to count on, and it is great feeling loved by so many! I feel quite fortunate and it really feel like a lucky person. Today in our little (well not so little) brunch we had all kinds of delicious foods and wonderful people around. I got beautiful flowers, even a balloon and wonderful gifts and even candles that said my name!

I baked a big cake and a few quiches. It was a lot of work for me that I am not used to cook for lots of people, but it was so great to do it. Some days it feels like the sun is shining more than ever.

Hoy tuve una pequena reunion con muchas amigas de por aqui. Parece que mi circulo de amigos se va agrandando cada semana. Es increible tener a tanta gente con la que contar, y da mucho gusto sentirme querida asi por tanta gente! Me siento muy afortunada y la verdad es que creo que tengo suerte. Hoy en nuestra pequenha (bueno mas bien gran) desayuno tuvimos delicias de todo tipo y mucha gente increible. Me regalaron flores, incluso un globo y muchos regalos increibles e incluso velitas con mi nombre!!

Hice una tarta enorme y unos cuantos quiches. Fue mucho trabajo para mi pues no estoy acostumbrada a cocinar para mucha gente, pero con gusto. Algunos dias parece que el sol ilumina mas intensamente.

About Luca, reading about his test results, listening to him, he just blows my mind. He is doing wonderfully, he is already almost caught up to his hearing peers in what he understands, except in some specific areas, and he is not that far behind in the expressive part. He made mistakes that I feel he doesn't have all the time when he speaks. It is just that it is not easy to take tests and to understand the expectations for these little guys. He is a talking machine and he is really doing great. I have to say, he makes me a proud mama.

Sobre Luca, leyendo mas detenidamente sus resultados, escuchandole, no dejo de alucinar con el. Esta mejorando muchisimo, casi esta al nivel de ninho normoyentes en lo que entinede, menos en algunas areas especificas, y no esta tan lejos en la parte de la expresion. Comete errores que creo que no los comete muchas veces cuando habla. Solo es que no es facil hacer tests y entender las expectativas para ninhos pequenhos como el. No para de hablar y la verdad es que le esta yendo super. He de admitirlo, soy una mama orgullosa.

Reality check

Once a year Luca is evaluated with a bunch of tests that give us a good idea of where he is at in terms of language development. These tests are always compared to his hearing peers and of course, as he grows the level that he is compared to is higher and higher. I feel like we are swimming against the flow to close his gap with his hearing peers. I have seen tremendous progress in the past few months, a huge improvement and a realization that he is very independent now and that he can manage quite well with pretty much anybody, since mostly everyone can understand what he says and he can express himself pretty well. Still, the expectations are high and we are observing him with a magnifying lens. After all the effort that he is making, and so are his teachers, therapists and me, after 6.30 h daily of mainly therapy thought the school day, for 10 months, we can only say he has made between 1 year and 1 year and a few months progress...which makes me think. So, a hearing child, without any classes, maybe not even going to school yet, just hearing, doing nothing special, can improve as much as Luca has with all this tremendous amount of efforts and resources. Wow, it blows my mind, it reminds me what an incredible journey we are in, it reminds me of the great effort he has to make in comparison with most kids, it reminds me about the difference between and deaf and a hearing kid. We forget at times while he behaves so much like a hearing kid. But we can't forget all the hard work is behind all of this.

Una vez al año a Luca se le evalúa con un montón de pruebas que nos dan una buena idea de donde está en términos del desarrollo del lenguaje. Estas pruebas son siempre en comparación con niños normoyentes de su edad y por supuesto, a medida que crece el nivel con el que se compara es cada vez más alto. Siento que estamos nadando contra corriente para cerrar esa diferencia con los niños normoyentes. He visto un progreso tremendo en los últimos meses, una gran mejora y reconozco que es muy independiente y que ahora se puede manejar bastante bien con cualquiera practicamente, ya que casi todo el mundo puede entender lo que dice y que puede expresarse muy bien. Sin embargo, las expectativas son altas y le estamos observando con una lupa. Después de todo el esfuerzo que está haciendo, tanto sus maestras, terapeutas como yo tambien, después de 6.30 horas diarias de cole, principalmente de terapia, durante 10 meses al año, sólo podemos decir que ha hecho entre 1 año y 1 año y un pocos meses de adelanto... me da que pensar. Un niño oyente, sin ningún tipo de clases, que tal vez ni siquiera va a la escuela, sin embargo, sólo escuchando, sin hacer nada especial, puede aprender tanto como Luca con toda esta enorme cantidad de esfuerzos y recursos. Wow, me sorprende, me recuerda la aventura en la que nos encontramos, me recuerda el gran esfuerzo que tiene que hacer en comparación con la mayoría de los niños, me recuerda la diferencia entre un niño sordo y un niño normoyente. Nos olvidamos a veces, pues él se comporta como un niño normoyente. Pero no podemos olvidar todo el trabajo duro que hay detrás de todo esto.

Thank you for your nice birthday wishes. The best part about birthdays these days are the phone calls, the emails, the messages received all day long from people who care about me. It makes me feel special and it is so nice to talk and get nice notes from everybody. I will be making a little party to celebrate on Monday with lots of friends. Wish that long distance friends/family could also join. In the meantime, I got spoiled today with this pastries. I tried one and they were delicious!! Thank you my dear friend for making them for me! you are the best!

Gracias por todos vuestros buenos deseos de cumpleaños. Lo mejor de los cumpleaños en esta epoca son las llamadas telefonicas, los emails, los mensajes recividos durante todo el dia de gente que me quiere. Me hace sentir bien y es tan bueno hablar y recibir saludos de todos...Estare celebramdolo con amigas de por aqui el proximo lunes. Me gustaria que mis amigos/familiares que vivne lejos tambien pudieran venir. Mientras tanto, me mimaron hoy con unos alfajorcitos. Los probe y estaban buenisimos!! Gracias querida amiga por hacermelos! Esres TOP!

Cumple

In a few hours it'll be my birthday and I can't believe this past year went by so fast...I guess it is a good thing...although I have mixed feelings. I know it is a good thing, because it means I had a good year and flew by, but at the same time I feel a bit sad that I am not able to savor my life and my son's life more slowly. Does that make sense? I don't know, but that's how I feel. I also feel 3 years older than my husband ever was, and a little bit strange about what it means being closer to the 40s. Undefined feelings, but overall quite happy with my life and with the people (physically close or far away) that are close to my heart. My life is still a big question mark, but I am enjoying the path that I am taking to define it a bit better. Luca helps me do that, and I wonder what it will be like when he no longer depends on me so much. But while he does, I better enjoy it, savor it, and live one day at a time.

En un par de horas sera mi cumpleanhos y no me puedo creer que este anho haya pasado tan rapido...creo que eso es bueno... aunque tengo sentimientos encontrados. Se que es algo positivo sentirme asi, porque significa que tuve un buen anho y por eso volo, pero a la vez me siento un poco triste de no disfrutar mi vida y la vida de mi hijo mas despacio. Tiene sentido? No se, pero me siento asi. Tambien pienso en que soy 3 anhos mayor que lo que mi marido fue, y me siento un poco estranha sobre lo que significa estar mas cercana a los 40. Sentimientos indefinidos, pero en general estoy muy feliz con mi vida y con la gente (fisicamente cercana y lejana) que estan cercanos a mi corazon. Mi vida aun es una gran interrogante, pero estoy disfrutando este camino que estoy tomando para definirla un poco mas. Luca me ayuda en ese sentido, y me pregunto como sera el dia que no dependa de mi tanto. Pero mientras lo haga, sera mejor que lo disfrute, lo savoree, y viva la vida dia a dia.

Chi-town

We just came back from a few days visiting Chicago, a city not that far from our home, but far enough that we have never been there before. It was cold, colder than at home with the crazy wind coming from the lake. It was fun, and entertaining, tiring but a great trip. I just wanted to share a few shots from our little trip. Definitely, a place to go!

Acabamos de regresar de unos dias visitando Chicago, una ciudad no muy lejos de aqui, pero lo suficientemente lejos como para no haber ido nunca antes. Hacia frio, mas frio que en casa con el viento terrible que provenia del lago. Lo pasamos bien, fue entretenido, cansado pero un buen viaje. Solo queria compartir algunas fotos de nuestro viajecito. Definitivamente, tenemos que volver!