To my English-speaking readers

I owe you an apology. I have started posting in other languages than English and in a different way   just for the sake of it, because I felt like doing it. After all, this is my blog, isn't it? However, I wanted to give you some explanation. In the future, I am going to use the language that strikes my fancy at the moment I sit to write or depending on the addressee I have in mind. The purpose of the blog will continue to be related to my parenting voyage and my children.

I come from watching my children sleeping. Both of them. I have been watching her first, then him, in order of appearance in my life. Eyes closed, even breathe, blanket up to the chin. She looks younger when she sleeps for when she is awake language takes most of the time and attention. He looks older when he sleeps for then I realize how long he is. Already crawling fast and attempting to stand, this boy of mine who arrived to my womb unexpectedly and into outside life dangerously. He has absolutely captivated us, I must admit. Two babies. Two little people with whom I spend, as of late at least, all my hours.

I have also watched the big boy. He deserves a rest so much. A rest and loads of nutritious food. He has lost weight and looks grave in this beard. No time even to shave.

TIME: We need you on our side.
"Give us your hands, if we be friends, and we shall restore amends"


GOOD NIGHT (UN)TO YOU ALL

PITUS PORUM

Em fascinen les fulles dels arbres. Em podria estar observant el moviment de les fulles de l'àlber hores i més hores. En les copes dels arbres jo hi visc. Admiro el seu lloc privilegiat a prop del cel.

Cau una fulla. Lentament. Com un pes lleuger que se sap sense pressa perquè inevitablement ha d'acabar arran de terra. Li queda, però, la vivència d'haver estat aire enllà.

Sota una palmera em preguntava la Marina si era un Pitus porum. A banda d'un arbust, a la nostra escola el Pitus porum és una estona de compartir. De possibilitat de compartir. I de despertar els sentits.

Hem descobert l'esclat de les prunes. Les hem tastat. Escoltat el so oriental del monocordi. Ensumat flaires d'èspècies i cafè. Mirat un conte.

Penso ara en el tacte. Imagino un joc en el que els dits tenen el luxe de passar per una fusta suau, per l'aspror de la llengua d'un gat, acaronar la calidesa d'un tros de vellut, la frescor de la pedra, sentir les pessigolles de gespa fresca, el morro d'un gos. L'aigua glaçada del riu, un panet acabat de sortir del forn. Estrényer una altra mà humida i petita. Rebre la carícia d'una fulla de mimosa.

PRIMERA ENTRADA A L’ARBREDA

 Les parets que arriben fins a l’escola són de roques apilades. Magnífiques teranyines entreteixeixen les juntures de roca a roca. El sol de juliol prop de les deu del matí les fa visibles.

És possible que si mesures més de 90 cm. Se t’escapi aquesta visió, com tantes d’altres, però en entrar a la nostra escola, després de fer dringar una campaneta que fa de pont entre el món de dins i el de fora, és més fàcil estar arran de terra i mirar amb ulls d’infant. Aquesta és la mirada que desitjo per a mi. I la de l’ocell. I la de les fulles de l’àlber. I la del riu. I la del banc a l’ombra.

“Dring-dring” fa la campana. Se senten passes que de dins s’acosten a la porta i, un cop oberta, el murmuri de veus engrescades en diverses activitats deixa pas a una veu més greu, suau, propera que ens rep amb “un bon dia”.

La porta es tanca amb un clec. La veu que ens acompanya ens mostra un cistell on deixar el préssec que hem portat. Quin goig fan els colors de les fruites d’estiu! I quina riquesa de varietat! Hi ha cireres d’un granat intens com de vi; prunes mirabel, un pèl més grosses que les cireres i més rosses, de to robí semi opac. Petites boles encara una mica més grans, els tímids albercocs d’un groguenc ruboritzat. Vorejant-les, tallades de maragda. Prenem un triangle de xíndria. Tant el to rogenc com la textura a mig camí entre el sòlid i el líquid escau molt bé al nostre estat d’il·lusió i expectativa. Regalima el dolç suc galtes avall. Deixa les mans enganxifoses. Potser que abans de col·locar la roba i altres objectes per primer cop al cistell passin per sota de l’aigua fresca. Parem a la font del porxo. Massa alta? Un escambell d’Ikea ens ajuda a arribar-hi. No hi ha pressa. El ritme de Marina d’escassos 3 estius flueix amb calma en aquest indret.

Quan haguem col·locat les pertinences al calaix encara s’estendrà al nostre davant el nostre primer matí de descoberta de l’entorn pausat, càlid, amb olor de terra assolellada i seca de la que ja és la nostra escola, l’Arbreda.

Just to say hello

We are in the midst of changes and recovering from sickness, which I expect will render us stronger and mindful. I really feel more like going to bed than staying awake and writing. However, I want to  share some of the things that are going on around here.

My littlest started slithering the day before he turned 6 months and he's been really into it ever since. Such an example of focus. Whatever calls his attention, he cruises, slithers and rolls until he reaches it.
M is more articulate than ever and even if there are still some phrases she uses her own way, such us temporal adverbs, she really means what she says most of the time. Upon hearing that I would present a new material today she told me "something else? but I don't want so many things"... This has triggered some thought, as you may imagine. From now onwards, I will try to be more present and less on the lookout for activities. This anecdote has reminded me one of the postcards that still hangs from the board of my childhood bedroom where there is pictured a boy carrying a globe as gift to a girl and the girl saying "Ich brauche nur deine Liebe" (...but I only need your love).

In the below picture you can see how A gazes M. He does it most of the time and whenever she appears in his field of vision his face is enlightened by a wide smile. She is also becoming fonder of him and wants to hold and tickle him, as well as bring him toys.

Me... I am on an ongoing process of becoming more mindful and present... 

Escritura creativa como terapia

Hoy os hablaré de mí. No lo hago a menudo. De hecho, hace tanto tiempo que perdí el yo en el nosotros que no sé si me acordaré de cómo se hace. Pero quiero hablar de mí. Al fin y al cabo hoy era mi cumpleaños. Digo "era" porque cuando dé a "publicar" ya no será 29 de mayo.
Desde que soy madre, no es un tema que me haya preocupado la pérdida de individualidad, de tiempo para mí misma, a pesar de que me dedico a mis hijos y estoy con ellos prácticamente todas las horas del día todos los días a la semana. El único momento en que no estoy con ellos, estoy dando clases, trabajando, de manera que el contínuo de estar-sin-estar-en-mí como mujer hace mucho que dura y al reflexionar no puedo sinó sorprenderme que no me haya hecho plantarme cosas hasta ahora.
Valga decir que mi impulso analizador se ha visto atizado por una colección de migrañas fuertes que acaban en vómitos violentos en los últimos tiempos. La repetición siempre invita a pensar de manera que tras la tercera migraña en menos de mes y medio me puse en serio a meditar sobre qué debía estar causándolas. Es posible que en general pocas personas estén de acuerdo conmigo pero mi visión de la salud y la enfermedad va más allá del análisis de síntomas y diagnóstico para borrar los mismos. Yo sé desde hace muchos años que mis migrañas han ido tradicionalmente relacionadas con estados nerviosos, excitación por eventos especiales, estrés, pero en investigar descubrí que también están íntimamente ligadas con la digestión (o más bien indigestión) y la visión. El estado migrañoso se da en un momento pico de estrés. Me ha pasado en las tres ocasiones en este pasado reciente que siendo las 9 de la noche en días especialmente cargados, me iría a dormir pronto pero en lugar de dormir me pongo a vomitar hasta casi media noche.
¿Qué puede ser de mi vida diaria que me satura hasta el punto que no quiero verlo más ni puedo digerirlo? Es muy posible que una especie de saturación de espacio/tiempo cuidando-cuidando-cuidando, siendo la única tregua los momentos en qué doy clase, o sea que estoy a cargo de cuidar del aprendizaje de lengua extrangera de otra persona... uf! Será que en los momentos en que vomito y eventualmente mi compañero me acaricia la cabeza me siento cuidada...? Dicho así suena casi mal pero me temo que las enfermedades tienen estas sutilezas.
¿Para qué enrollarme como las persianas? La conclusión me parece que apunta a algo tan obvio y que tienen claro tantísimas madres y que curiosamente a mí me había pasado por alto: necesito tiempo para mí como mujer, como escritora. ¿Cómo hacer de esta necesidad una realidad? Veremos.
Antes de finalizar añadiré otro dato que tal vez haga levantar alguna que otra ceja de incredulidad pero que me parece de lo más interesante. En mi investigación acerca de las enfermedades y sus posibles significados me encontré con que las disfunciones del tiroides pueden estar relacionadas con la falta de tiempo para hacer lo que se quiere y con la creatividad. Significativamente, cuando nació mi primera hija, me volqué en su cuidado y dejé de escribir, cuando había estado prácticamente dedicando todas mis mañanas a hacerlo hasta entonces. Poco después empecé a estar muy cansada, excesivamente cansada y me diagnosticaron hipotiroidismo. Tal vez, quien sabe, mi curación pasa por dedicar un tiempo semanal simplemente a escribir. Probarlo es gratis de manera que lo voy a intentar hacer.

Food, music, and words

I can't believe it is Sunday night and here I am over a nice cup of hot chocolate and before quite a nice possible stretch of time for myself, to write the post I have been wanting to write for weeks.
Time goes by before my eyes and I am aware of changes and progress but somehow incapable of keeping track of all I would like to by writing things down. It truly is a pity because I know in a while I won't remember everything, despite my memory...
My sweet little baby is growing into a very nice little boy. His grandpa calls him "the world's most likeable baby". Well, it might be grandpa's love but A is a very nice boy indeed. He is always smiling and he also laughs sometimes specially upon seeing his big sister, which makes me smile. We don't know what he finds so funny. He spends long stretches of time concentrated on his toys and turns from back to tommy and the other way round. I've seen him slithering a little bit, always backwards but he is not really into moving yet. What he is really big on is food. We haven't officially introduced him to solids but he is so interested in whatever we eat that he grabs everything he can and brings it to his mouth. I am so happy we make our own bread. It will probably be the first thing we officially present. For the moment being it is fine with me that he grabs this and that.

Here he is; experimenting a slice of apple

Unlike his sister at his age, he seems to enjoy strolling around in the stroller and he even falls asleep there.

I just love this photo so I am sharing it once again

These past weeks we have been really into making our own "homemade everything", from muesli to baby wipes, and I am specially proud of my tile floor cleaner. I am so happy to be making products that are eco-and child-friendly, cheap, and which yield a productive activity with M at the same time! I mentioned our attempt at homemade bath bombs and body paint some weeks ago. The latest thing we've made is toothpaste and I like it quite a lot! I would like to share some recipes but will have to leave it for another post.

M has been doing quite a lot of new things as of late. She has shown an unusual and sudden interest in jumping and it is really funny to see her practicing her jumps here and there. She also shows a renewed interest in doing things all by herself. She climbs, goes to the toilet and flushes it when she's done, and changes clothes several times a day, which I understand it is a way of practicing her skills. She puts on and takes off jackets, backpacks, socks, and shoes. I love to watch her arranging her jacket on the floor and going around it to put it on the way she has seen children doing in our copy of "Raising an amazing child". Today she has put a red shirt on and asked me to button it up. However, I am already seeing her interest in buttoning and I have taken out our sun // rays activity for her to practice if she feels like it. The button snake has been an all time success so I wonder why these other activity is not appealing to her.

Her language acquisition progresses, as usual, and she is memorizing really long songs and poems as of late. She asks us to repeat a certain song or poem over and over until she is able to recite it for herself. Today I've seen her pronounce the words while I was singing some song she had asked and a while later she was humming it. Little by little English is becoming more present in our conversations and I realize she masters it all the same but the fact that the world around her generally speak Catalan makes her have this language as her first one. Some funny word games take place when mixing two languages. The other day I said something like "I am looking at myself" (we have a new mirror) and she told me "Marcel (her uncle) is in Tornabous". Notice that the words "myself" and "Marcel" sound quite similarly. I really cracked up. There are also the kind of mistakes one wouldn't make if there weren't a second language, as in "nens jugant el piano". She translates play the piano for toying the piano because in Catalan and Spanish one says something as "touch the piano" and she know play is also related to toys. And, talking about instruments, I really loved it the other day when M drew many lines in different colors and then told me "this is a guitar, do you want to play it?".

A change we've lately made at home is devoting a whole room to our instruments, among which there is the piano. We listen to music together every morning. M loves Ravel's Bolero and asks to listen to it nearly everyday. If I remember to take pictures of the room, I will share one. My activity as "the worse photographer ever" proves that I take photos totally at random, so instead of picturing any of the things I was mentioning, I leave you with an image of M playing with her animal models and cards.
Have a lovely week!!

Pintura corporal casera

A menudo pasa que una amiga me dice que le gustaría leer mis posts pero que no lo hace porque no entiende el inglés. Por este motivo, sumado a la habitual falta de tiempo, mi motivación por el blog parece haber disminuído en los últimos tiempos. Me pregunto ¿por qué escribo? ¿para quién? Gran parte de lo que escribo es para dejar constancia del desarrollo de mis hijos y para que en el futuro, si les apetece, puedan leer cómo fue su paso por la primera infancia. ¿Por qué público, entonces? La idea de compartir este tipo de escritos fue impulsada básicamente por el deseo de establecer relación con otras personas (madres??) que están en el mismo estadio y que con probabilidad crían de un modo parecido. En cuanto al tipo de artículos sobre la creación de materiales, la idea es simplemente divulgar lo que hacemos y tal vez dar ideas a otros para crear. ¿Por qué en inglés? Porque es la lengua en que me siento más cómoda escribiendo, por un lado, y porque creía que sería la lengua que podría llegar a más personas, por otro lado. A deducir de los comentarios y de las visitas a mi blog, exceptuando a los lectores anónimos de los que no puedo saber nada personal, la única persona que me sigue cuya lengua primera es el inglés, pero que entiende el castellano, es mi amiga y blogger en Vibrant Wanderings Melissa.
Por este motivo he decidido escribir algunos posts en castellano. A partir de ahora, intercalaré el uso de una lengua y otra.
Tras estos preámbulos, ¿qué hemos estado haciendo por aquí últimamente? Algunas de las cosas que hemos hecho y que me gustaría compartir son maquillaje (o pinturas de cuerpo) casero, bombas de baño para regalar a madres/abuelas y toallitas de bebé. Por hoy empezaré por compartir la receta de la pintura corporal. Es realmente fácil!!
Tres ingredientes y listo:

INGREDIENTES:
2 cucharadas soperas de maicena
1 cucharada sopera de loción suave
colorante natural (nosotras usamos colorante alimenticio en polvo disuelto en agua)
Se mezclan los ingredientes y se disponen en recipientes o paleta de pintura
C'est tout!!

Yo recomiendo probar las proporciones antes para poder disponer las cantidades y que l@s peques puedan hacerla con casi total autonomía.

En casa estamos en plan elaborador total. Tenemos pensado hacer nuestro propio desodorante y pasta de dientes. ¿Por qué? Pues básicamente para conocer todos los ingredientes de lo que nos ponemos en el cuerpo...

Ala, hasta la próxima!


VARIACIONES (MEJORAS) DE LA RECETA

Este fin de semana hicimos tres recetas diferentes y mis descubrimientos fueron que:

Añadir un poco de goma xantana (ingrediente que usamos para la pasta de dientes) mejora la receta considerablemente
Como es un ingrediente poco común, si no lo tenéis, no os preocupéis

Se puede usar también una mezcla de harina de trigo, agua, azúcar y una pizca de sal, calentada lentamente y dejada reposar una noche, y añadir el colorante antes de usar
Esta segunda receta es ideal si se usa con niñ@s que aún experimentan con el sentido del gusto, es totalmente "comestible"

La tercera variación consiste de añadir crema hidratante de bebé a la segunda receta, hace la mezcla más homogénea y suave.

What's up?

Where have I been?
Well, mainly very busy and tired at the end of the day. So, how or where to start?
I will focus on uploading photos and leave detailed texts for another day.
Baby A seems to have outgrown the period when he suffered from indigestion any time he nursed and would spend quite a bit of time crying each day. I have already and quickly forgotten it. He has left the first stages of babyhood behind and smiles during most of his waking hours. I dare say he is a contented baby. He is already nearly sitting up and very interested in clutching practically anything that lays within his reach.
M has been going through some difficult stage and we finally understood she was sick. She had so little experience in being sick that she didn't tell us she was having stomachache. She had fever for two days and we thought that was it, although she remained moody, very sensitive and had nightmares every night. I am so glad to see her feeling like herself again!!
And well, here come some pics. May this serve as an update. I apologize for the bad quality of my phone-taken photos.

This was baby M... I found it funny that two years later, we took this photo:

Here they are. Relaxing.

Little A already interested in books.

These days we are just loving this stroller!
Sorry it took me so much to update.

Fever, books and roses

My girl had fever yesterday and the day before. She has always been incredibly healthy and since she weaned this was the first time around she had fever. She must have had fever only a couple of times in the past but those times consisted more or less of a sleepless night -for me- with a high temperature and nursing a lot. Because she has so seldom been sick, I can see the significance of this fever.
Last week she slept rather little and we all experienced some uneasy moments. She refused to nap and went to bed desperately late. She cried a lot as well. We could see she was undergoing some important changes and tried hard to help her, to no avail. Towards the end of the week, I decided that I was no longer actively going to put her to sleep during the daytime and told her so. I explained how important it is to be well rested and that anytime she felt tired it would be awesome for her to go to sleep for a while. After a rather rough couple of days -Wednesday and Thursday-, at noon on Friday she decided to go to bed and napped for one and a half hours. That was nice! I promise I had despaired and felt my whole way of raising her was a failure. It was nice to realize that she is indeed able to recognize she is tired and go to rest.
Then came the weekend and weekends are never good in terms of consolidating new routines. On Sunday eve she fell ill with a fever and has slept a lot ever since. Today she was not completely recovered but I've been able to see the new girl emerging after the bout of fever. She is taller and thinner and looks grown in general. She has even used some new expressions and words that she would use her own way have switched to the right word. She sounds so grown up. The activities I had prepared for the week and which remained completely untouched yesterday because she spent all day napping on the couch have been approached today and she has even told her father that she wanted to finish "all this activity" before having supper.
Oh. How much I love my girl. If only I had words to express it the way it deserves. But I don't want to try any clumsy attempts.
It was Sant Jordi here today and we've gone for a stroll, the kids and me, to see the stands full of roses and books and although I fear it has become a commercial strategy that makes both books and roses less valuable, I still like it the way I used to when I was a girl and books were my truest love. I do love books and flowers so even if I didn't intend to buy nor the first neither the latter, we've set out to feel the festive atmosphere. The smell of Mediterranean broom on a spring morning, which hasn't changed since my teenage years recall me of this love. Books were a door to new worlds, to knowledge of new things, something I truly cherished. And, I believe I have passed this on to my daughter.
I had indeed gotten a new book (Montessori letter work by Bobby and June George) for her today but it came via mail and we have given it to her this afternoon. I have the feeling we are going to enter a new sensitive period for letters very soon.

Homemade and costless glue

I am very excited to share the latest recipe I've tried out to make homemade non-toxic art materials. I really love seeing children experiment with paint, play dough, glue and other doughs but I am also concerned about the amount of toxic ingredients in these materials. Bear in mind that my eldest is 2,4 years old.
I have already mentioned somewhere that I try to make materials with edible ingredients. Just in case. We all know that toddlers like to taste things. We've tried several types of homemade paint and regularly make play dough and salt dough but I had never ever thought of making glue.
It is as simple as:
You boil a cup of water.
Mix 3 tablespoons of flour (I used the cheapest all-purpose) with 2 tablespoons of cold water
You mix everything in a pot and heat until mixture thickens
Add 1 tablespoon of sugar
Stir and let mixture overnight in the refrigerator.
We used it yesterday and paper sticked to cardboard even better than with regular glue sticks!!

Play dough or cómo hacer pastelina casera

Para quienes me han pedido cómo se hace la pastelina que usamos en casa: aquí va la receta:

2 tazas de harina (idealmente, para una pasta fina y maleable, harina de arroz)
1/2 taza de sal
2 cucharadas de aceite
2 cucharadas de cremor tártaro
1 taza de agua hirviendo
colorante alimenticio (opcional)
esencias, especies o aceite esencial (opcional)

También podéis añadir purpurina pero entonces esta masa comestible 100 % deja de serlo. Con comestible me refiero a que los peques que siempre lo prueban pueden probarla sin problema no a que se puede comer como si de un pastel se tratase...

M concentrated on decorating the play dough with marbles, pipe cleaners and string

Many people ask me how to make play dough so I have decided to share our recipe once again. Since the people who ask me are Spanish and might not read English, I am going to re-share this old post of mine and translate the recipe.


It's been some time now since we first started making our own play dough. At the beginning, about half a year ago, M was not interested at all and the dough would remain in a basket on the shelves until it dried out. However, I decided to give it a go before Halloween and this time it has certainly been a success. We made it for a weekly play date and the other girl enjoyed it very much as well.
Something that has surprised me this time around is that the dough gets better and better the more used it is. M asks to play with it everyday and it has become soft and resilient at the same time that it's kept the cinnamon flavor. We are very happy about the recipe we are using, so I've thought I would share it.

That's the 2 of us making the dough

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups of all-purpose flour
1/2 cup of salt
2 tablespoons of oil
2 tablespoons of cream of tartar
1 cup of boiling water
food coloring for color
essence, spices, or essential oils for flavor

We mix all the ingredients in this order and then knead until the dough looks all right.

We could make some balls to give as play-date favors out of this batch

This recipe contained a little bit of orange food coloring for color and cinnamon to give it a scent that would evoke the season. Another batch we've made had a little red coloring to make it pink and strawberry scent.

Just the three of us

Today has been the third day I've spent with both children on my own from dawn till dusk, at what time I've left the house to go to one of my book club meetings. Exhausting.
It's been exhausting but also amazing, empowering, fulfilling.
Amazing because both children prove that they cooperate in whatever situation they find themselves in. A week ago M seemed to need her father all day long. Little A was quite demanding, seldom comforted at the breast and rarely accepting being put down. I really thought the husband's first week back at work would be a tough one and I was prepared. They have surprised me greatly and in the best possible way. M complained the first morning about her father having left without her. Although we had informed her repeatedly that he would go to work the following morning. Then, she asked for him once or twice during the morning and that was it. The second and third days she complained a bit after waking up and was quite happy the rest of the day. A bit of crying on the first day and it was about all. We have been mostly spending a nice time the three of us.
Empowering because the days when my dear girl was rejecting me seemed to have ended. This time together has reinforced the bonding in a way I was highly in need for.
Fulfilling because despite the -nearly total- lack of -me-time I keep thinking this is what I want to do.
I've been trying to have the best age-appropriate activities out on our shelves, which has meant hard work after hours to have materials ready. We have all been very busy to have meals beforehand in the refrigerator and a reasonable schedule to go by. But apart from logistics management, the kids have helped a great deal. Baby A has accepted napping on his tommy on a little mattress even in the garden. He has actually slept for longer stretches of time on the mattress than in the wrap (it might be due to the fact that I may be requested to do things like playing table tennis on the floor while he is sleeping). He has peed and pooped in his potty each and every time I've put him over it, which has made the whole diaper issue much simpler. M has engaged in most of the suggested activities and even if she needs my focused attention most of the time also understands that the baby needs me and accepts, even encourages my attending him at the first whimper. It is not unusual to hear her telling me "give him milk" (= nurse him) or "he wants you to hold him". She is of the most delightful kind, my girl.

Not-so-little baby catching hold of cushions

On the first day I was making up some story and saying "this wonder, that wonder" to refer to them both and M looked at me first and at A then and told him "AND this wonder" referring to me. Oh, she made my heart melt. That same day, when her father came back home in the evening she told him "papalou I do love you" semi-quoting from a book we have called "Koala Lou" where the koala's mother tells him all the time "Koala Lou I do love you". It also touches my heart when I see her taking care of one of her teddies. She nurses them, helps them go to the toilet, asks them many times if they need milk or how do they feel, and now even tells them "oh, I will hug you, I will kiss you, I will caress you".
One of the things I definitely have to improve is the timing of naps. Except for the first day, when M napped for two and a half hours following a fall from her swing, any time there has been a window of opportunity to get her to nap, I've had to do something else. I know it is important that she gets some rest but yesterday and today I was unable to make her wind down. I hope I will be able to change this. Something else is the kind of activities I know she is ready for which I can't provide for lack of materials. I am going to place an order this weekend and I truly look forward to starting using some Montessori materials with her.

The most successful suggested activity this week: pouring colored water with a funnel

I will take the opportunity to mention that we have finally decided to homeschool -following mostly the Montessori method- next year. Totally or partially we aren't yet sure but our idea is to refurbish our basement, tidy and improve our garden, convert the shed for garden tools into a play house, and get Montessori materials. We might open our house to other children but even if there are no families interested, we will carry on with the project. I am very happy we have finally decided that even if M prefers to go to school, even if no other families join in our project, the expenses will be an investment for we see the Montessori method  really works for us. M thrives when offered the right kind of activities and I am sure she will do so when we have access to real first class materials.
Well, that's more or less what our last three days have looked like. I could ramble on for hours but going beyond midnight can be a bit too much. Good night!!

A year ago...

I didn't mention it before but I have been having a hard time as of late. My "absolute rose" and most favorite girl was rejecting me in many occasions and this is something I don't deal well with. I recall when she weaned that she underwent a stage when she would say "mama no" and she preferred her father over me. I also had a hard time then, being pregnant and feeling rather sick. This time around it has been worse. She doesn't nurse anymore, although she tried to after A was born. I can't exactly figure it out but I think she had forgotten the technique for she tried several times but never nursed again. If I may compare our situation to those mums who tandem nurse, I believe being able to nurse the toddler can be of help. How many times have I wished I could offer her milk and bond again the way we used to. Besides, her father has been unemployed for some months, which has been of great help having two little ones to care for, but this has meant her turning to him for most things and explicitly rejecting me. I have been suffering quite a lot and only because I have hopes this stage is finishing, I can now speak out.

Today I was re-reading what we were up to last year and a wave of nostalgia has invaded me. I want to share it, if only because I no longer write such accurate updates http://labambinafelice.blogspot.com.es/2012/04/whats-new-total-autonomy-mopping-and.html. I also expect to improve that once my little baby is a bit less dependent, although I honestly fear two will always be more work than one used to be.

Well, little baby and "absolute rose" really like each other, which is wonderful. The babe smiles broadly every time he sees her. But I will write about this on another post. Good night!

A present for a five-year-old

This weekend we have been to a very special friend's birthday party. She was turning 5 and I knew she is very into letters, so I wanted to make something letter-related and since I also happen to love stamps I gave foam stamps a try. It doesn't always happen to me that I am very glad with the result when I want to make a birthday present and I often end up giving something different from what I'd planned. However, this time around I was quite happy and I want to show it to you.

I made the stamps using foam pieces that I glued to big bottle caps. The ink pad is just the lid of a container -the kind of container take away food comes in- lined with thick felt. I wanted to add homemade ink as well but it wouldn't have fitted into the box we were going to use. To use this pad with the stamps the only thing one needs is a bit of acrylic paint and a pinch of salt. The salt makes the paint a bit more fluid. 

Añadir leyenda

Voilà, that's the way the present looked. We gave it to our friend together with a card M had done. 

Robins, sparrows, wagtails...

Did I ever mention Spring is my very favorite season? Well, it is. I was born in Spring. I can't help contradicting T.S Eliot, for I DO NOT think "April is the cruellest month".
Jokes aside, something that fills my heart with happiness is the sight of birds coming everyday to eat from the bird feeders we made last winter.

As a tribute to the birds, we have done a collage and I am happy to share it. I like the result and the process was a non directed activity, age appropriate for a 2 year-old-toddler, as well as interesting.
I I don't have any pictures of the invitation to paint, but as you can guess from the finished collage, there were some paper clippings -deliberately cut in the shape of a tree, ovals for the birds' bodies, triangles for the beaks, little rectangles for the legs, and so on. There were sponges and some little plates with finger paint.
M was free to paint as she wanted, as you can also see. After the pieces were dry, we glued the birds and the trees and voilà!!  

Spring activities

I guess this activity is so simple that I could just let the images speak by themselves. I wanted to start creating some Spring-related invitations to work and this idea just came to my mind. 

To set it up you only need some bottle caps (I always keep some just in case), thick cardboard (I used a cereal box turned inside out), and a little basket or box to place the bottle caps. Any design can be done, which is great. My toddler completed two patterns very quickly but I think I will prepare more 'cause she showed great interest.

Mirrors

My baby generally hates being on his back but the mirror has been a discovery. He can gaze at himself for quite some time. I love how he can concentrate on his reflection!

Our week in images

Invitation to play: flower patterns and bottle tops

Invitation to play: contact paper flowers, colored paper clippings, bottle caps and buttons.

While the older siblings had a play date...

I got it!!

Digging up knobbed puzzle pieces

I am always on the lookout for ways to re-use materials and trying to make further use of a knobbed puzzle the other day I set up a really simple activity that kept M busy for a while. These puzzles are the kind of material that after a few uses become old hat. I fear that is one of the disadvantage of most non open-ended materials. But well, with a bit of imagination we can reuse them!
For this activity you only need the wooden already mastered puzzle, a tray, and flour, salt or corn-starch. I covered the pieces with starch and presented it next to the base of the puzzle. I added a thick paintbrush as an invitation to uncover the "treasure".
M eagerly took the brush and dug up the pieces. She was quite excited to see what was buried there!

Pretend play and the three months milestone

Biyearly update, kind of...

My daughter has surprised me with pretend games as of late. At 2,3 years she spends each day some time pretending she is having tea with some friends. She has a tent in the playing room where she always "makes" us "tea and makrutes" (an Arabic cookie I believe she learnt from a book called "Muk travels around the world"). She also has some imaginary friends who apparently live in the tent. She has even given them names and keeps mentioning them.
Two weeks ago we attended her great granma's funeral in a Catholic church and she was apparently fascinated by the building for she started mentioning churches all the time and then she decided there was a mouse in the church and everything was turned into "mice in churches". Then, the church kick waned but she keeps inventing new games. Whenever we go to a park she gets under a slide or shack and pretends that is her house.
For two reasons this has really taken me aback. I thought pretend play was something that started later in a child's life, or so I had read, and I have never encouraged it, not consciously at least. She has a cabinet in our kitchen and another one in the bathroom but they are used to store real objects that she uses for practical life activities such as cooking, eating, washing or grooming herself. Some people might have thought her kitchen cabinet was a play kitchen but that is not the case. The only toy food she has is a set of cutting wooden food box that is kept in our living-room shelves with other items. Since the food in that set is sliced or cut in pieces I thought we might use it to work on fractions but I don't expect this to happen any soon.
Another game she has come up with all by herself is the "I spy" in the way of "tell me a word". Then, you tell her one and she starts looking around for the object you've just mentioned. This is a wonderful way to consolidate words seldom used. And talking about language, it is now evident that M's first language is Catalan. I guess it is only normal for this is the language she hears around. Since she started to interact with adults, her Catalan vocabulary has widened a lot. She understands English and does sometimes answer back in English or makes up mixed words such as "neetem" (need conjugated in Catalan), "playem" (from play) or "tuquing" (from tocar) but doesn't generally use English to express herself.

M is really into cooking, spooning, funneling, washing dishes, and other activities that tend to happen in the kitchen.

Other of her interests in the gross motor field are shooting balls, which she is very good at, going through tunnels or climbing onto places, and well, movement in general.

In the social aspect, M often asks to see children and we try to provide them whenever possible. As I have sometimes mentioned, in Spain most children M's age are in kindergartens plus we live in   an underpopulated area so it is not very often that we get to see children. Anyway, her interest is not  yet in playing with them, she enjoys watching them and interacts only with the ones she is more familiar with. We got a full garden of children yesterday and she had a great time. It is amazing to see her while children are playing with her toys and using her things, not always in the gentlest possible way. I feel very clumsy when expressing this. I don't like labeling behavior and escape using words such as "sharing" or "generosity". In fact what I am talking about is not exactly sharing I believe, at least not in the way most adults seem to think about the issue. We have never ever prompted her to share anything and yet it is beautiful indeed to see her "sharing" from her heart as it is to see her offering you her food even if it is her favorite food and there is only one piece left.
I have also noticed this girl of mine is growing very empathetic, as well. Some things have been worrying me as of late and whenever she sees me worry she urges me to laugh. "Riu, mama, riu", she says.


Dear little A is about to turn from tommy to back position. I expect it to happen any day. This baby of mine is really keen on movement. It started already in the belly and when very little time before his birth he did a somersault and changed from head to breech position. Most of the milestones I recall happening later are already taking place; turning, holding and raising head, doing crunches. Unlike her sister at his age, he sleeps much and generally he only wants to nurse when he is really hungry. I am amazed at how different two siblings can be. She could spend her days at the breast and he is sometimes annoyed if I offer him milk and he is just sleepy, or so it was at least until now that he's turned 3 months. Some patterns are starting to change, though. We are setting a bedtime routine that seems to work, something we never did with M. Hence her sleep habits have never been too good, or so I fear. I used to regard the idea of routines as a purely grown-up thing convenient to adult's lifestyle but I might have grown up myself for I find they can be useful and helpful for the baby. In general we go more with the flow of the everyday rhythm, trying to leave ample room for what might come up but this time around I have brought myself to set a bedtime routine to which I am sticking to.

Well, the feeling of time going by real fast is something that becomes too obvious when you have children. Already three months and it seems it was yesterday that I found out I was pregnant!
Three months have had to pass to enable me to write a long update post, and there is yet so much I am leaving unsaid. I truly hope I will be able to write oftener now but I feel I can't promise anything. Sorry!

Our experience of EC so far

The satisfaction at every "catch"

Before A was born I knew I wished to start EC from the beginning. Then, he came all of a sudden and being one of the between 0,14 and 0,62 % of umbilical cord prolapse cases. While I was recovering both physically and emotionally from an emergency C-section (from a birth that had nicely started at home) that had rendered me terribly weak and anemic I couldn't start EC, not actively at least. But after he turned 1 month I had already observed his rhythm and was ready to start.

What is elimination communication?, some of you may ask. Without any shyness, let me quote our friend Wikipedia: EC is a practive in which a caregiver uses timing, signals, cues, and intuition to address an infant's need to eliminate waste. Caregivers try to recognize and respond to babies' bodily needs and enable them to urinate and defecate in an appropriate place (e.g. a toilet). (...) EC emphasizes communicaton between the caregiver and child, helping them both become more attuned to the child's innate rhythms and control of urination and defecation.

A is turning 3 months today and this week we have been able to catch every poop and many of his pees. The satisfaction at every "catch" is something very close to the excitement we, parents, feel when we witness a new skill in our children. What amazes me the most is how easy it is to EC a very young baby. I generally place him over a potty when he wakes up, after feeds, and whenever I have the intuition he has to go. More than 90 % of the times he does something and if we forget he is very efficient in letting us know that he is pretty uncomfortable. Something else that amazes me is the fact that he seems to wait for the moment you place him over the potty, at least to poop.
Many of you might think I am a freak but I have already gotten used to going to public bathrooms after a feed to help A urinate or defecate... and the feeling of success is quite exciting. Fortunately nobody has seen me yet... EC is not very popular in Spain.

I would really like to hear about other EC experiences so feel free to share!!

What's new: just too much

I have been wanting to post updates all these weeks and in my mind I had done so but now I realize I was just dreaming. I kind of have missed out three whole months of updates and that's too bad but I do have an excuse: I have no time!
Life with two children two years apart is quite different and taking into account that I have also worked since the littlest was 12 days, I feel writing a weekly update is just too much. Well, of course I was just working around 1,5 to 4,5 hours a week but it makes no difference, I spend the little time I have making projects or invitations for my toddler, or mobiles for my baby...
No time and here I am rambling on instead of getting to the point.
We have been intensely looking for a preschool for M, which has also taken much of my time both on pondering pros and cons and attending open house visits. The range of options is wide, although we have pretty much the idea of what we feel suits M best. Up to now we have visited several preschools and schools. The first one was a public/state conventional school in the middle of the woods. The lush surroundings and the fact that it is within walking distance from our house made the visit compelling. We had some expectations since many of the families who bring their children there, and some of the teachers, are alternative and there is a timid attempt at hands-on projects. I was positively surprised to see the variety of materials three-year-old children had access to and nonetheless a full class of 25 three-year-olds sitting and working on a collage of the snow at the same time made me feel a bit giddy. They talk endlessly about "the adaptation period". I feel two half mornings to adapt to the change of being home with a parent to being in a class with 24 other children and an adult cannot be possibly enough for M -- let alone me.
Next, we went to visit two little Montessori inspired preschools that use hands-on approaches and let one of the parents accompany the child for as long as the s/he needs it. Choosing one from these two had been our first idea but when we started comparing, we couldn't make our minds up. The one we had visited first, as soon as June last year, was the option I leant toward. The teachers seemed very respectful and their philosophy was on a par with mine in the majority of aspects. I also liked the families we had seen on their open house. The dad, though, was unimpressed by their Montessori material, which he thought looked too new, and suspected children had no free access to it. He favored the option I had dismissed because the owner of the land the preschool was in, and mother of two of the children who attended, had given me the impression she acted a bit as if she were the queen of the place. I have to confess I am rather bad at being in places where someone is clearly the owner. The teacher in that school, however, had spent long periods with Rebecca and Mauricio Wild and was acquainted with the Pestalozzi.
Yesterday we visited a public/state progressive school which is a 30 minute ride from our home. The facilities, materials, outdoor and indoor invitations to play and work were really impressive. They gave a two-hour talk, which neither the husband nor I could listen to from beginning to end because we had gone with both kids. We heard a bit each, though, and what was more important, visited the facility at M's rhythm. She was fascinated by a kind of sand box modeling steppe landscape and spent more than 20 minutes arranging the wonderful Schleich animals and trees and manipulating the pebbles and rocks. That school would really be an option weren't it -in my opinion- too far away, and located in the suburbs of a socially depressed town. I am sorry I might sound snob but the car ride with two kids that aren't keen on cars is what frightens me most, actually.
Next Saturday we are going to visit a Waldorf preschool and a brand new private progressive school. Then, another public school in the nearby and another Waldorf preschool the next weekend and I think that will be it. We will have to choose or decide to stay home for another year or until it is time A goes to preschool. M is always asking to see children so I don't know if that could be an option.
I wanted to write on how A nearly turns from tommy to back, on how M has come up with I-spy games all by herself, on how tender it is to hold a three-month old baby and how fun it is to be around our toddler but it is already way past midnight and I can't afford sleeping less than I already do. How about sharing some pics instead?

DIY Octahedron mobile

I have wanted to share this post for weeks and I am happy to finally have the time to do so. Around six weeks we took the Gobbi mobile away -although we kept it as decoration in our dining room- and presented our variation of the Octahedron mobile.
I started making this mobile for the sake of making it when M was around 14 months and I didn't have the slightest idea that I would have another baby within a year. It might have been one of the omens that preceded my pregnancy. Another one was reading books and articles on Montessori for babies even when my actual baby was way past babyhood.
That was the start. I only finished it some weeks ago, when A was already past his fifth week and I was starting to thing that if I couldn't finish it on time, I would have to save it for another baby.
My original idea was to make the three blue, red and golden octahedrons but to simplify my life and since the only cardboard I had on hand was golden, I decided to modify the Montessori mobile a bit and make three octahedrons identical in color, different in shape, each octahedron being 1 cm bigger than the previous one. To make the mobile I upcycled a cardboard gift bag that glimmered, a thread of fishing line, and a pipe cleaner, so it really cost me nothing!
I liked the result! And A seems to like it as well, for he everyday looks at it for a short while. Nothing like the two hours or so I've read somewhere... Nope... He can concentrate on it for around ten or fifteen minutes, after which he starts whining. So are my children... not much time on their backs.

Nearly getting there

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, when I was a little girl, I used to ask my mother if using a long ladder we could reach the sky. The answer I remember is that should we attempt to touch the sky, it would move higher and higher, eluding thus our touch.
Some days I feel as if my aim were like the sky in my mother's tale, just impossible to achieve. Others, like today, I feel we are nearly getting there. But what do I mean by "my aim" anyway?
Some might say it is perfection. I don't know.
I aspire to live in harmony, keeping the children contented and happy, inventing and setting interesting activities for the toddler, responding to the baby's cues, catching as many of his pees and poops, getting to finish house chores, writing as much as possible, doing interesting classes, and being a nice mother, wife, friend, daughter, sister, teacher...
How was my day today? The morning went by in the blink of an eye. If it hadn't been for a failed attempt to go for a stroll, aborted by the terrible wind, the baby would have maybe slept for three hours non-stop. But we've set out with sleeping A in the stroller, M walking by my side. I seldom give a dime for A's chances of sleeping much if he is not tightly held but life always surprises me and that's what I've told myself this morning. The stroller was the best option under such weather and given the fact that he was sleeping in my arms when we were preparing to go out. Lovely M has tried to ride her trike but since I didn't have enough hands to push her, she has very kindly offered to walk.
No sooner had we walked down the street, not even bent the corner, when I have realized the wisest option was going back. Fortunately, M has found out some balloons and stickers we had under the stroller, which has entertained her on the way back. Unfortunately, A has woken up and the following hour and a half he's been rather upset.
In my attempt to reach the aim, I keep on redesigning nap time and bed time routines that can match our needs with two children. Conclusion, after a frugal meal we've spent more than one and a half hours to get to sleep. When the husband has arrived, though, both kids were napping like angels. Full stop.
The afternoon has been spent amidst a trip to the store, a visit to the lake to feed the ducks, supper and bed time.
Why do I feel, then, that today we are getting closer to the ideal? I guess it is because I have been able to do some laundry, folded clothes, shopped for pants -now that I can't get into any of my old pants-, prepared two simple activities for M, made a kettledrum with recycled items during nap time, survived the morning, gotten to sleep a baby that doesn't like nursing to sleep... No baking or tinkering today but I have the feeling I have done my best to get closer to my dream. Well, and it wouldn't be so without this short while of writing. This feels like paradise although it is way past midnight...