Feliz Cumplemes No 4

Nuestro hermoso Milan. Cada día más bello, más curioso, más despierto y más grande. Hoy cumples 4 meses y tu tía Mary y primo Angello nos trajeron torta! Lástima que aún no comas sólidos por lo que tu papá y yo tuvimos que sacrificarnos :)

Son las 4pm y salimos a caminar por el Malecón de Barranco y Miraflores. Desde nuestra casa cruzamos un par de calles y ya nos encontramos muy cerca de un lindo paisaje con jardines llenos de flores y árboles y en unas horas más nos regala un hermoso atardecer.

Tú estás mirando de derecha a izquierda y no quieres que nada se te escape. Tu papá y yo nos tomamos de la mano mientras planeamos nuestra visita a tus abuelos paternos en Inglaterra. Hay varios temas que organizar antes de nuestro viaje pero estamos muy positivos al respecto.

Desde hace unos días has empezado a utilizar tus manos con muchas eficacia. No hay objeto que se te cruce y que no quieras coger para llevártelo a la boca. Sujetas tus juguetes, tus mantas, nuestros brazos y manos cuando queremos cambiarte y hasta quieres llevarte a la boca la nariz de tu papá cada vez que él te besa.

Te resfriaste por primera vez. Tan chiquito y enfermito. No es nada agradable verte así. Hemos seguido las indicaciones del doctor y ya pronto te sientes mejor. Te damos mucho mucho amor y cuidados para tenerte mejor pronto.

Datos interesantes: Pesas 7,300 kilos y mides 67 cmts.

El Embarazo contado por el bebé

Al ver este video publicado en las redes sociales, no pude evitar compartirlo contigo.

Y aunque es un video que obviamente hace publicidad a una marca de leche, me llamaron la atención los detalles del bebé hablando a su madres desde el vientre. Y es que desde nuestro embarazo, siempre te esperamos con ansias, aún haya sido una etapa con algunos malestares e incomodidades, siempre llevamos nuestra pancita muy feliz, con mucho cuidado y con mucho orgullo, porque TU te alojabas en ella y digo "llevamos" porque la pancita fue mia y de tu papá. El embarazo fue nuestro porque siempre nos apoyamos y ambos de digo muchos cuidados y cariño.

Te quisimos desde el primer día que supimos de tu existencia, te queremos ahora y te querremos por siempre.

Feliz Cumplemes No 3

Hoy cumples tres meses y justo hoy termina mi licencia por maternidad y debo regresar al laburo. Tu papá y yo nos levantamos temprano y tratamos de tener todo a tiempo para no llegar tarde. Tu abuela llegará temprano también y se encargará de cuidarte en el próximo mes y medio que yo regreso a trabajar y termino el año escolar.

Voy en el bus mirando por la ventana y voy pensando en ti. Hace un par de semanas que ya estás más despierto y más independiente. Dejaste de comer tan seguido y pasas más tiempo con otras distracciones que no sean yo. Me alegra este cambio ya que estoy segura que no te afectará el que yo esté lejos por unas horas. También estoy tranquila porque tu abuela cuidará bien de ti. Durante el último mes ha estado visitándonos todos los días y se ha quedado contigo mientras yo salía a correr y distraerme un poco. Ha hecho un trabajo excelente y ahora la pasan muy bien juntos. Me voy tranquila a laburar pero siempre te tengo en mente y te extraño un montón.

Te adoro, mi bebé.

Datos interesantes: Pesas 6,600 kilos y mides 63 cmts.

Hoy te comiste un loro

Desde hace unos días despiertas con muchas ganas de conversar pero hoy en especial te pasaste todo el día hablando con todo el mundo y hasta contigo mismo!!

Por la mañana como es usual recientemente te quedaste un buen rato en tu cuna conversando con nosotros. Te llevamos a cambiar y seguiste con la conversación.

Estuviste en tu mini gym y hasta pudimos grabarle un mensaje a papá para decirle lo mucho que lo queremos y lo extrañamos.

Llegó tu abuela a visitar y tremenda lora mantuvieron, en brazos, en tu coche y hasta en el sofá no dejabas de hablar.

Visitamos la Casa de la Tata donde hoy compramos tus nuevos pañales ecológicos, esperamos te sientas más cómodo con ellos y más feliz al saber que estaremos tirando menos pañales desechables a la basura. Será nuestro granito de arena para cuidar el medio. En esta visita estuviste durmiendo, de lo contrario ya hubieras estado curioseando todas las cosas bonitas que tiene el Showroom de La Tata.

Después, tu abuela y yo nos escapamos al chifa y ordenamos alguito que comer, unos wantanes fritos. Yummy!!! Si te hubieras visto, andabas coqueteando con la dueña del establecimiento, no parabas de sonreírle y contarle mil historiad de tu aún corta vida. Ella quedó encantada contigo.

Por la noche llegó tu papá y mientras él cenaba tu lo mirabas con grandes ojos desde tu coche. Te llevó a ponerte la pijama y luego a ponerte a dormir. Desde la sala los escuchaba conversar. Seguro que le contaste el día lleno de actividades que tuviste hoy.

Te dejo un video para que escuches lo bien que se te oye al conversar :)

Muecas y cachetotes

SeIfie de Feriado

Cumplemes N° 2

Hoy celebramos tu cumplemes comiendo unas riquísimas galletas que preparó tu abuelita, Pilar :)

Datos interesantes: Pesas 5 kilos 600 gramos y mides 60 centímetros!!

Tus abuelos maternos

Aquí los abuelos maternos. Tu abuelo tendrá toda la paciencia del mundo contigo, te llevará a jugar al parque y te ayudará con las tareas, mientras que tu abuela te preparará ricos manjares, te llevará en brazos y te protegerá de cualquier mal. 

Así son tus abuelos, mis padres, personas a quienes amo muchísimo y agradezco infinitamente por todo lo que son y me han enseñado y aún me siguen entregando. Paciencia, conocimiento y mucho amor.

Estamos muy felices de que tengas tan maravillosos abuelos!

Hand to Feet

With my hands upon your feet, I feel your future steps

crossing mountain peaks and plumbing valley's depths.

Too soon I carry you no more, too soon my strength will fail

your feet no longer in my hands, you walk the manhood trail

but know this son and keep it close, the one from who you feed

will take your feet into his hands, whenever there's the need.

Life saver

You grandmother wants me to tell you how you saved her life. 

When she heard about you she immediately made the decision to come to Peru to be here when you were born. That was not a small decision for her, as it is a long way from her house to our house, it takes about a day to go from one to the other, and she would be travelling on her own. So she bought herself a ticket for the aeroplane that would bring her to be with you and started making her preparations for the trip. 

Sometime before all this you grandmother the doctors had told her that she was unwell. It occurred to you grandmother that being on an aeroplane might effect her illness, which she had ignored up to this point, and that she should go to the doctors to get it checked out before getting on to the aeroplane. 

So she went to the doctor and asked him to take a look and do you know what he told her? He told her that it wasn't what they had though before, it was something else. Something worse. He told her she had a cancer growing in her breast! What do you think of that! A bit different, no? 

Well, this was one week before she was going to get on the aeroplane to come and be with you, so the doctor had to do some quick tests so your grandmother could know whether she could travel or not. You were too young to notice, but in the end you paternal grandmother didn't make it to be with us when you were born. So I guess from that we can tell the tests did not come out in favour of her trip. 

However, what did go in her favour was that the cancer could be taken out, and that is just what the doctors did. She had it removed and had some treatment to make sure there wasn't any more of it in her body. 

So you see how you saved your grandmother's life? She was going to ignore her illness as she thought she knew what it was. It was only her trip to see you that made her have it checked, and just in time! So your arrival in the family kept our grandmother with us too. 

Not a bad way to join the family, hey? 

Nos fuimos a pasear

¡Feliz primer cumplemes!

Ha pasado un mes desde que llegaste a nuestras vidas y desde ese día nos has hecho aún más felices.

Recuerdo el día de tu nacimiento como si fuera ayer. Te pusieron en mi regazo y tenías los ojos bien abiertos. Te veías confundido en este nuevo lugar con nosotros. Te quedé mirando mientras en mi rostro tenía la sonrisa más grande que haya tenido jamás. Tu padre te sostuvo sobre su pecho descubierto dejando que sientas su calor y los fuertes latidos de su emocionado corazón. La felicidad no nos cabía más. Hiciste que nuestros corazones latieran más rápido que nunca antes.

Después de limpiarte y revisar que todo esté bien, te llevaron a nuestra habitación y pude tenerte en mis brazos por primera vez. Eras más pequeño de lo que eres ahora y más frágil también. Te tomé con mucho cuidado y mientras acariciaba tu pequeña cabeza, miraba cada detalle precioso de tu cuerpito de recién nacido.

En los días siguientes hubieron muchas malas noches e intentos de comprender tus llantos. Dicen que criar a un hijo es el trabajo más difícil que puedas amar, y seguro vendrán más retos pero todo eso y más es bastante llevadero con tu papá a mi lado. Él ha sido mi gran soporte, amigo solidario, comprensivo esposo y padre maravilloso entregándonos su amor, cuidados y mucho apoyo.

Ya ha pasado un mes y el verte más grande, curioso, feliz y sano lo vale todo. Pesas 4 kilos 400 gramos y mides 54 centímetros y hoy celebramos tu primer mes de vida con un keke que preparó tu abuela y fue decorado por tu abuelo y tía. Te amamos!!!

¡Feliz primer mes, mi bebé precioso!

Documentando la maravillosa experiencia de mi embarazo

Nice to meet you

And so our life together begins. Four weeks in and we are all still getting use to each other. 

This first month has been hard work. You rely on your mother and I for everything and you are constantly needing something. You are not warm unless we keep you warm, you are hungry until we feed you, you are not clean unless we clean you, you stay in one place until we move you. It is a humbling thing to have someone rely on you for everything, to be responsible for the life of another. I am enjoying fulfilling my due to you. That you did not ask us to bring you here to be with us and now you are so completely reliant on us inspires me to do everything I can to make you comfortable. That, I repeat, is hard work.

Your mother spends the whole day with you. You seem to be uncomfortable a lot of the time and so you barely let her catch her breath, she has to be with you almost constantly. She doesn't mind, she loves you very much, but it is hard work.

You are a bit like a puzzle game with levels of increasing difficulty. Just as we learn to cope with one thing, you bring on a new challenge. First I learned to clean you properly when I changed you, and you peed on me. So I figured out to put something on top of you to catch the pee, and you shat on me. I got that all sorted and you started to vomit milk, so I have a bip on hand to catch the milk, but then who is covering the other end? You peed and shat on me. It's hard work.

We have started feeding you from a bottle. That way I can help you mother, as before it had to be her as she carries the milk. You look me in the eyes when I feed you. I like that a lot. Another thing you do is you make a sighing noise ("Haaaaaa") after you sneeze that melts my heart each time you do it.

You don't really know how to control your features yet, but I like to pretend that you smile at me from time to time. Every now and then you fall asleep on my chest, it is the greatest sensation I have experienced up till now. So as I said, it's hard work getting to know you. Is it worth it? Hell yes, son <3

Tal como la soñé...

... tu sonrisa preciosa :)

Y llegó Milan Nicolás Ormes Tello

Carta a Papá

Querido papito,

Ya no falta mucho para vernos cara a cara y sentir personalmente el cariño que me has entregado a través de mamá. Siento tus caricias en la barriga de mamá, disfruto de la música que has elegido para mí y escucho atentamente tus palabras cada vez que hablas conmigo.

Todo este tiempo te has mostrado preocupado por mi desarrollo y mi llegada a este mundo y siempre has hecho sentir a mamá lo mucho que la amas, dándole palabras de ánimos y ayudándola en todo lo que puedes. Gracias por ser una persona maravillosa.

Sé que estás ansioso de mostrarme este mundo a través de conocimientos y experiencias. Yo también estoy ansioso de compartir todo eso contigo. Vamos a tener tantos momentos para compartir juntos, tantos juegos, charlas y viajes. Ya quiero disfrutar de nuestra vida juntos!

Te quiero mucho,
Milan

That which we call a boy, by any other name would be as beloved.

So, my boy, it turns out that one of the things that you must do after you have created a life is to give it a name. It would be a difficult thing indeed to participate in these societies that have emerged from the chaos of people without anyone being able to address you with a semi-unique identifier. It seems to be one of the first things people want to know about you in almost all situations. So it falls to your mother and I to attach to you an appropriate handle with which you can reply to the many incarnations of that most important and basic of inquiries,

"And your name is?"

"Milan."

Milan. That is the response we have decided to bequeath you, in all our wisdom in the role of parents. All 6 months of it. So don't be too harsh in your evaluation of our efforts, we are very new to this activity of giving names. Most things in our life up to this point have come with their names already attached.

Here is my attempt to explain how we came to chose that particular moniker.

It started with some lists. Originally the lists were for both girl and boy names. Some names did not make those original lists because of how they sound in Spanish or in English. Some were struck off because both your mother and I were working as teachers at the time and so certain names came with psychological  baggage.  The fat whinny grade 10 kid who never took responsibility and tried to cry his way out of any situation was never destined to share a first name with such an example of perfection as our first born son. I participated in your mother's lists and we began to look at names that had just one spelling and similar pronunciations in both Spanish and English. It was not imperative for you to have a bilingual name, but when the potential list of names is in the thousands, we needed some kind of strategy to reduce the choices.

Then, one day I could no longer avoid the responsibility and I sat down to write my own list. I choose to put on my list the names of people who had made an impression on me during my time here on this rock of ours. Maybe their ideas, their story, their work. On that list, along with Darwin and Bertrand and Douglas, was the name of a Czech writer who had written a book called Slowness.

There is a secret bond between slowness and memory, between speed and forgetting.

A man is walking down the street. At a certain moment, he tries to recall something, but the recollection escapes him. Automatically, he slows down.

Meanwhile, a person who wants to forget a disagreeable incident he has just lived through starts unconsciously to speed up his pace, as if he were trying to distance himself from a thing still too close to him in time.

The degree of slowness is directly proportional to the intensity of memory; the degree of speed is directly proportional to the intensity of forgetting”

― Milan Kundera, Slowness

Reading that book was one of life's pleasant moments for me. Pleasant enough to get Milan Kundera, its author, on my list. The job of choosing from that list I left up to your mother. I think she had earned the right to reject or accept any suggestion of mine on naming the person that she had given her body as its place to grow. By that I mean you, Milan.

So you are named for the writer, Milan Kundera. I wonder if that will inspire you to read any of his books? I am named from the fact that my brother is called Leon and that there was a musician called Leon Russell whose work my parents enjoyed at the time of my birth. I have an album on which he plays. I love it. Lucky me!

The meaning of the name was not why we choose it, but it certainly helped us to enjoy our decision. There are meanings from Latin and Sanskrit, but you are named for the Slavic root. There it means:

One who is dear and beloved. From the Slavic element "mil" which means "gracious".

So your name labels you as dear to us, as beloved. That this is true should be obvious to you. If we do not make you feel the truth carried in your name each and every day, we are not the parents we planned to be. So you do not need your name to know that we love you, but what a pleasant way to be able to introduce yourself to all those curious people that you will meet in your life.

"And your name is?"

"Beloved."

Antojo 5

Eres mi escudo protector

El fin de semana pasado tuvimos nuestra primera clase de psicoprofilaxis donde ofrecen información sobre el parto, el antes, durante y después, además de técnicas de relajación y algo de ejercicios para embarazadas. Tú papá quiso acompañarnos pero lo obligué a quedarse en casa y es que ha cogido tal resfriado que andaba con dolor de cabeza, nariz tapada y flema.

El pobre no pudo acompañarnos y yo recordaba que ya es la segunda vez que se resfria y no llega a contagiarme. Yo creo que eres tú quien me hace más fuerte y me ayuda a no caer enferma por ningún motivo y es que es muy común a que me resfrie al menos unas tres veces al año, especialmente a comienzos del año y durante los cambios de estación. Los resfriados me duran varios días sino semanas y en estas oportunidades ya me ves feliz de la vida sin preocupaciones. Claro que tampoco corro riesgos, pero realmente creo que me estás dando una manito con este tema, mi amado escudito protector.

Te volvimos a ver. Cuánto has crecido!

La semana pasada tu papá, tu abuela Pilar, tu tía Mary y tu primo Angello me acompañaron al médico y todos pudimos verte.

De pronto apareciste en la pantalla, que alegría! El doctor hacia aparecer tu cabeza, tu espalda y piernas. Obviamente estás más grande que la última vez que te vimos y la ecografía nos ayudó a ver que todo circulara en orden. Pudimos ver algunas venas importantes y el cordón umbilical y según la ecografía Doppler todo indica que vamos bien.

Estas últimas semanas te has movido más que nunca y aunque a veces deba buscar otra posicion más cómoda, eres en verdad una experiencia hermosa e inolvidable. Recuerdo la primera vez que tu papá y yo te vimos en la pantalla, casi no podía creer que estaba creciendo en mí una personita, eras super chiquitito. Te miraba, miraba a tu papá y no dejaba de sonreir. Ahora que te siento a cada instante, me siento siempre acompañada y cada movimiento que hago lo hago pensando en no incomodarte y darte el espacio que necesitas.

Ya estamos en la semana 29, estás pesando 1,518g y mides unos 39cm. Abres y cierras los párpados y hace semanas que reaccionas a la luz, mis movimientos y otros estímulos externos.  Aún te faltan varias semanas para seguir creciendo. Poco a poco tendrás menos espacio y estarás listo para estar entre nosotros que te esperamos con ansias.

En esta semana estamos iniciando nuestras clases de psicoprofilaxis y estaremos más preparados que nunca para tu llegada. Aquí te esperan muchas personas que te quieren, todo el amor de tus padres, muchos momentos lindos y más!!

4am thoughts of you.

Where we live right now can be quite noisy. So much so that your mother and I are thinking about how to make it quieter. I guess, as you will be born into it, you might not notice it as much as we do. That said, it would still be better not to have your first experiences of the world filled with car horns, people shouting, the noise of the marketplace and the constant rhythm of tapping on the metal shutters of shop fronts in order to be let in by those who reside inside. The aforementioned residents remain blissfully unaware of those outside who simply continue to tap out their tuneless request. Right now I am writing to you at five in the morning, having been woken by a chorus of car horns as childish drivers tried to show their superior masculinity through a pointless display of sound based aggression. As I write I am listening to Odetta on my headphones, but this is not enough to keep out the sounds of a group of drunk adolescents passing through the street on their way home from a night of enjoyment. Enjoyment based on the consumption of large quantities of alcohol in a venue, judging by their continued need to communicate through shouting their pointless ideas at each other from a distance of no more than a metre, where the music was being played at ear damaging volume.

You are becoming more and more real to me with each passing day. You mother is always quick to share with me when you are moving about in your liquid comfort, building your strength, practising flexing your extremities, perhaps unconsciously rebelling against your incarceration. These moments of energetic rebellion help me to see you. You legs and feet and arms and hands. Even you face sometimes comes to me in my imaginings, helped by the fact that in general one baby looks very much like another baby. Except you. You are more beautiful.

I'm going back to bed. Talk to you soon. Love you.

Semana 26 y tus movimientos se sienten con fuerza

Hemos entrado a la semana 26 y tus movimientos se sienten con fuerza. El otro día tu papito estaba conversando contigo y le tiraste tremenda patada en la nariz. Hay veces en que parece que estás bailando ahí dentro por lo mucho que te mueves y si me quedo quieta mirando mi barriga, puedo ver tus movimientos.

Esta semana estamos de vacaciones y hemos tenido más tiempo para relajarnos y dedicarnos a nosotros. En el trabajo es un poco difícil con tanto que hacer y yendo de un lado a otro, pero estos días han sido muy relajados. Hemos comprado algunas cositas lindas para la casa, tu papá y yo hemos cocinado juntos y hasta he horneado muffins. También hemos tenido más tiempo para hacerte escuchar música bonita.

Este domingo es el día de la madre y almorzaremos en casa de tus abuelos. Es mi primer día de la madre  que celebraré contigo en la barriguita y desde ya me hacen sentir muy especial. Los alumnos del colegio siempre preguntan por tí y quieren sentirte rnover. También hubo una asamblea muy emotiva dirigida a todas las madres en la cual nos llevaron y sentaron al frente del escenario y disfrutamos de un número musical, un baile de marinera  y las hermosas palabras de un alumno que me robaron un par de lagrimitas.

Tus abuelos, tíos y amigos también te tienen en mente y te han hecho algunos regalitos que estamos guardando para tu llegada y hasta tu tía Mary ya está pensando en organizar un Baby Shower.

Tenemos pendiente una última ecografía y ya quiero que llegue el día, quiero verte otra vez!

What I hope I have told you

Recently an old English actor passed away. I would imagine you have not seen any of his films. Let's see if we can find a copy of Who Framed Roger Rabbit an watch it together, see if you like it.

I was reading something his daughter wrote about what he had taught her over the years. It inspired me to put here some of the things I would like to teach you. I though it might be a good reminder for me, we can check if I still think the same, if I remember to tell you the things I wanted to tell you.

1. Don't take yourself, or life, too seriously. There is a time and place to be serious. People will want you to be serious most of the day. Ok, fine, but whenever possible, make sure you remember how ridiculous this big strange world of ours really is. With its paperwork, hair styles, latest technologies, tattoos, kings and queens and religions. Just look at the movie we are going to watch! What a way to make a living, pretending to talk to cartoon rabbits! The world is wonderful. Wonderfully ridiculous. Don't take it seriously.
2. Forgive yourself. You will make mistakes (I hope). If you don't make any mistakes, your not doing anything interesting in your life. So make a mistake, fix it, forgive yourself and move on. I still love you. 
3. Don't change for anybody. If other people in your life are telling you not to be who you are, they are probably not the right people to have in your life. The person that you have to be sure that likes you is you. If you really think you are doing something bad, stop it. If not, don't worry what others say, unless it is me or your mother. We made you and we can unmake you just as easily! :P 
4. Make peace with the things you cannot change. If you are not happy with something and you can do something about it, put effort into making the change. If it is not within you control, find a way to accept it, or make it less important for your happiness. 
5. Learn to love someone beyond yourself. It will guide you and make you feel important. Do not base your happiness on the love of someone else, but share you happiness with those you love. Doing things for you and mother brings me a sense of joy I never got when doing things for myself. 
6. Be kind. Always. 

Lets take a moment to see how we are getting on with this list, or if we should adapt it a little for the people we are now. 

Anunciamos que eres un varón

Esta es la foto que utilizamos para anunciar que serás un varón!

It's been a while.

I will start by saying sorry for not having written to you for some time. I guess, as you will read these all together, I can get away with not writing so often, as long as I now get you up to speed with what has been going on.

I have a job. I work on my computer, in the flat, building websites for people in the UK (you should know something about the UK by now, maybe we are even living there when you get to read this). It feels good to be making some money and with this job there is the chance to find more work and therefore keep making money. That way we can get the things that we need and want without too much trouble.

It is important to like the job you do. We are very fortunate in our family that when we were young we were allowed time to spend learning lots of things. I work now (well, now while I am writing this, not now while you are reading it, although I hope that  is the case) but I have not always had to work. As a child, like you, I was allowed to spend my time in school and with my friends, learning about the world and how to interact with it. Not every child is as lucky as our family.

Because of that, I have a choice of what job I want to do. I have chosen to work on my computer for a few reasons. The first, and main, reason is that with the technology that we have now, I can work in Peru, or Colombia, or anywhere that I can connect to the internet, and my boss or client can be in Peru, or Colombia, or anywhere that they can connect to the internet. That way we, as a family, have the opportunity to move to different places in the world and I can take my job with me :) This is something that both your mother and I think is a nice idea, to be able to experience life in different places. We think it is a great thing for you too. What do you think?

The other reasons are that I enjoy the problem solving of writing computer programs and that I can earn good money.

We have made some changes to the apartment. We have added an office where your mother and I can work, I have put up some shelves (you'll understand why that is good when you try it yourself one day) and yesterday and today your mother and I painted your room. It is the first thing we have done in the house to get ready for your arrival and it made me very happy to be there with your mother, doing things together for you. I felt very grown up, for the first time in my life.

Another reason I feel more grown up is because I am now a married man. Remember I wrote to you about asking your mother to marry me and that she had said yes? Well, she was telling the truth, and last weekend she made me the happiest father to be in Lima, in Peru, in the world, by turning up to the local library with your grandfather and becoming my wife in front of a few family and friends. You should have seen your mother that day, son. She is such a beautiful woman, and that day she put flowers in her hair and everything. I would never have dreamed I would be marrying such a beautiful lady. Breathtaking!

I have been trying to get used to the ring I now wear. I love to wear it, but I think I am going to lose it or damage it all the time. Let's take a look at it now (if I still have it!) and see if I have looked after it well.

I like to watch football. The games from England are shown on the TV here in Peru. Today Liverpool won against Manchester City (a very good team) and gave themselves a very good chance to win the league. It will be the first time we have won it (I say we, I am not in the team) for 24 years. Hopefully by the time we read through this Liverpool will have won the league a few more times. You mother watched the second half of the game with me and it was great to see how much she enjoyed it. I think what she enjoyed most was how I was jumping and cheering and getting excited and worried. It was an exciting game. You mother is the coolest!

She tells me that she can feel you moving around now. I can't feel you from the outside. I really want to. Move around more, kick, punch, push as hard as you can!! (No don't do any of that, you poor mother will not have much fun with that).

I will leave this now, your mother and I are going to make an album of photos from the wedding to share with friends and family.

I haven't met you yet and already I love you more than I can express here. Keep safe and see you soon,

Love Dad x

Antojo 4

Tu sonrisa preciosa

El día de ayer fue cumpleaños de tu papá. Decidimos tener una cena en un lugar agradable, así que elejimos nuestro lugar favorito de pizzas, Antica.

Ya en el lugar, tu papá me hizo recordar que fue en este mismo lugar donde le di la grata noticia de tu existencia. También recordé un poco los primeros momentos de mi embarazo y cuando le dimos la noticia a nuestra familia y amistades.

Un buen amigo de tu papá llegó para acompañarnos. Chris conoce a tu papá desde hace 10 años. Estudiaron en la misma universidad en Manchester y vivieron juntos por un tiempo. Él es un compositor y músico excelente.

Toda la noche transcurrió entre chistes y risas. Yo reía tanto que me dolían los cachetes. Al terminar la cena buscamos el postre y fuimos al departamento a descansar. Tu papá ha celebrado su cumpleaños todo el fin de semana!

Esa misma noche soñé contigo. Fue la primera vez, espero de muchas, que te vi en mis sueños. Yo estaba teniendo una ecografía y tú te veías muy clarito en la pantalla, tan perfecto que empezamos a imprimir muchas fotos tuyas en muchas poses diferentes. Luego apareciste con una sonrisa de oreja a oreja. Se te veía tan feliz, sin dejar de sonreir. Aún tengo ese close-up de tu carita linda sonriendo.

En la mañana siguiente compartí mi sueño con tu papá y lo contagíe un poco con lo bien que me hiciste sentir. Todo el día estuve sonriendo imitando la linda sonrisita que vi en tu rostro.

Ya te quiero con nosotros y ver esa carita sonreir en vivo y en directo.

Tus movimientos

Ya estamos en la semana 19 y  desde hace varíos días te siento en la pancita. Tus movimientos empezaron con muy poca intensidad y eran casi desapercibidos. Ahora, con el transcurrir de los días son más notorios, pero siguen siendo muy suavecitos en mi pancita. A veces estoy con mis alumnos en clase y te das a notar con un movimiento. Será que reaccionas al escuchar mi voz?

Tu papito ha puesto música muy linda en su Galaxy Tab, así los tres podemos relajarnos mientras la escuchamos. También te habla, te pregunta por tu día y te dice secretos que no logro escuchar. Al parecer desde la segunda ecografía donde confirmaron que eres varón, ustedes dos ya tienen sus charlas privadas de hombres.

Tienes que ver el departamento ya ya ya! Hemos conseguido bancas bonitas para nuestra barra de desayuno, un mueble grande para la cocina donde guardamos platos, vasos y demás, y también  enmarcamos unas pinturas lindas que compramos en Ecuador. Tu padre tuvo una buena idea para los marcos y hoy los colgamos en la pared.





El próximo fin de semana tu papá y yo tendremos nuestra despedida de solteros (nos vamos a casar prontito). La idea es salir por separados con nuestros amigos y luego juntarnos todos y seguir con la reunión. Es que no la pasamos tan bien si estamos separados porque nos extrañamos mucho.Ya pronto conocerás a nuestros buenos amigos, te van a encantar

2da ecografía

Sin ganas de esperar más, queríamos entrar al consultorio y verte otra vez. Ver tus manitos, pies, espalda y carita; y así fue.

La doctora recorrió mi barriga por un buen rato y pudimos verte, ya más grande, más formado y moviéndote mucho. Nos confirmaron que eres varón y todo está andando bien.

Tu papá y yo decidimos que queremos que la familia también comparta este momento, así que los invitaremos a la próxima ecografía. Ojala podamos grabar tus movimientos y salir del consultorio con una linda fotito tuya.

Holding hands

It says on the nhs (national health service in the UK) website the following about a baby at 16 weeks. 

"Around this time, your baby's hands can reach each other – they can form a fist, and hold each other when they touch."

You are around 16 or 17 weeks old now. It makes me smile to think of you investigating your world, such as it is right now, and coming across you tiny hand and holding on. Giving yourself comfort and maybe a firm shake and a "How'd you do?"

Your mother had a scan the other day to look at her liver. While they were looking your penis got in the way. So now we know you're a boy. Actually, these things are not definite and it is possible they made a mistake. But for now we are trying out boy names on you to see how they sound and feel. Can you remember any of them? I used them when I spoke to you from time to time. David, Benjamin, Oliver, George (after a favorite uncle of mine) and Samuel have been a few. I think we will wait to meet you and see which suits you best.

Love you xxx

Anuncio de Embarazo

Sin preguntar, nos dijeron que eras un niño

El día de hoy tuve que visitar al médico, hacer unas pruebas de sangre y hacerme una ecografia. Todo reIacionado a mi hígado y para saber que por esos lares todo está bien.

En efecto, mi hígado, bazo y riñones se veían bien. Mientras hacían la ecografía, tú apareciste en la escena. La enfermera se sorprendió al verte, ya que mi barriga no es tan grande aún y pocos notan mi embarazo, y me preguntó si estaba embarazada. Luego dijo: " Mira, ahí esta tu bebé y ahí está su pene!"

Y sin querer queriendo, ya sabemos que serás un varón!

You have a nose and a spine

We had another look at what you are up to yesterday. They do a test to check for some genetic problems that can be detected at this early stage. I have no idea what would be done if they found evidence of such a problem, but as everything was fine, I won't be finding out.

I am not sure if you are camera shy or you were putting on a show but you were moving about like you couldn't get comfortable. First we saw you facing the camera, then with your face towards the bottom of the screen and then facing away, you showed us your back. So I got to see your face, nose included, and your backside and spine. You have toes and fingers, I can't imagine how small they must be! Pretty darn cute, though.

So your mother and I are about to move into a new flat and start to get the place ready for your arrival. We will make up a room and start to think about what we need for you when you arrive. A place to sleep, somewhere to clean you, things to help you eat and things for you to wear. You will be our first joint project. It is traditional in this world of ours to assign colours and certain styles to women and others to men. For instance, blue is considered a boys colour, pink for girls. If you are a boy you won't get flowers on your stuff. So we have to decide if we are going to ask the doctor to tell us if you are a boy a girl. Your mother thinks you are a boy, I think you are a girl. We shall know soon enough.

Antojo 3

Nuestro viaje a Ecuador

Y aquí estamos, en Ecuador! En este viaje no habrá nada de hiking, mountain biking u otro tipo de actividad de aventura. No queremos poner en riesgo nuestra salud y no queremos que tu papá se esté preocupando por nosotros.

Día 1: Llegamos a Quito!
En nuestro primer día en Quito, la pasamos muy bonito y anduvimos tranquilos caminando por Quito Antiguo (Centro Histórico) y por la noche tu papá me llevó a un lindo restaurante en las alturas de la ciudad donde teníamos una hermosa vista de toda la capital y adivina qué más hizo? ... después de decirnos lo mucho que nos quiere y lo feliz que se siente, me dijo que quiere casarse conmigo!! así que ahora me tienes luciendo un precioso anillo de compromiso. Ya quiero llegar a casa y mostrar mi anillo a todo el mundo!!

Día 2 y 3: Conociendo esta hermosa ciudad
Anduvimos algunas horas en bus y llegamos a la mitad del mundo!! Tienen un recorrido informativo y muy agradable, ya verás las fotos que tomamos.

El día siguiente fue tranquilo y paseamos por los grandes parques y mercados artesanales en Quito mientras caía una suave lluvia. Compramos cositas muy coloridas para el departamento.

Quito es una ciudad hermosa, ves colinas verdes por todas partes y la ciudad se construye siguiendo ese panorama natural. Me encanta!

Día 4 y 5: En Baños
Aquí se respira deportes de aventura! No podíamos obviar todos esos letreros que nos invitaban a probar algo emocionante, así que tu papá y yo terminamos haciendo Canopy! Ya verás nuestras caras en las fotos!

Día 6: Riobamba
Aquí solo nos quedamos una noche, tu papá tuvo la buena idea de hacer más placentero nuestro viaje a Cuenca y descansar en este lugar antes de continuar con el viaje.

Día 7, 8 y 9: Que lindo es Cuenca!
Llegamos a Cuenca y yo necesitaba un descanso. El día siguiente visitamos uno de los baños termales de la zona y el tercer día tuvimos un lindo tour alrededor de la ciudad.

Cuenca es un lugar pintoresco, con casas y edificios construidos al margen de un río limpio al cual se tiene libre accceso. Es muy agradable caminar por sus calles y toparte con cafés, tiendecitas, restaurantes, museos y más. Me gustó mucho ver dibujos preciosos en algunas paredes que al parecer no aportaban mucho al lugar y ahora se han convertido en agradables obras de arte que puedan ser apreciadas por el público en general.

Día 10, 11 y 12: Guayaquil y Salinas
Estos días conocimos un poquito de Guayaquil. Nos distraimos un poco caminando por el malecón y disfrutamos de un rico almuerzo. También visitamos las playas en Salinas. La playa pichiche parece una piscina y yo estoy color camarón!

Día 13, 14 y 15: De regreso a Perú!
Llegamos a Tumbes y luego fuimos a Piura. Aquí pasamos unos días agradables en compañía del sol, mar y arena. Nos olvidamos de más viajes en bus y disfrutamos de nosotros en este lugar tan lindo relajante.

Fueron dos semanas increíbles y aunque no he escrito mucho en esta publicación, hubieron muchas experiencias lindas que compartimos tu papá y yo y también tú, que estuviste acompañándonos todo el tiempo.

A touch of courage.

On Friday I asked your mother to marry me. I had thought about it before, and wondered if I could do something special for her, something super romantic. There were two problems with this. One, I am not very creative (I hope you take after your mother for that) and two, I am not very patient. So once I had the idea to ask your mother during our trip to Ecuador, that was it! Instead of dazzling her with private musicians playing classical hits and chilled champagne served on a river boat below the stars and going down on one knee while reciting a love poem recounting all the moments that lead me to love her so much, I nervously stuttered a bunch of repeated lines about how I didn't think marriage was necessary before trying to get a ring out of my pocket while sitting down and being interrupted by the waiter telling us that a cocktail without alcohol wasn't worth the effort (your mother didn't want to drink).

Luckily, your mother is an amazing person and she made me feel that the restaurant overlooking the city of Quito, with it's majestic basilica lit up against a dark night sky, was a perfectly romantic setting for a proposal and that my unconfident mutterings were like a Shakespearean sonnet. She is good like that your mother, she can make you feel real good about yourself.

I didn't ask your mother to marry me because you were coming to be with us. I asked her because I love her and had always wanted to share my life with her. But you gave me the courage to ask her, so thanks for that :)

Antojo 2

Wiggling you.

So, I saw you yesterday. You looked a bit like a caterpillar in a chrysalis, wiggling your feet. Actually I suppose you are a little like a caterpillar, eating and eating to grow bigger and bigger and soon to undergo an amazing transformation into something beautiful.

You don't actually have feet yet, but you do have a heartbeat, and the doctor told us it was a good heart beat. Steady, strong, regular. He also told us everything was perfect, exactly as it should be. What an amazing word to hear when someone is talking about your baby. Perfect.

Seeing you there, comma shaped and wiggling, and hearing your heart beating, was the first time we were really sure you existed. It was like completing one more stage in the journey to meeting you and now we know when that will be too. August.

Before seeing you it was hard to believe I could have been any happier about what was going on. Looking away from the screen where the images of you were being displayed and seeing the huge smile on your mother's lips, a smile she couldn't have stopped even with both hands over her face, made me feel so great I wish everyone could have shared that feeling right then. With that smile your mother was telling me how happy she was. She was telling me that she loved you and that she loved me. How great is that, hey? We should tell her the same when we get a chance.

Now that we know that everything up to now is 'perfect' I decided to tell a few close friends their children were going to have a Peruvian cousin. Andy, Matt, Adam and Chris. I still haven't talked to Chris, but I will soon. They were all so happy it took me a little by surprise. Amazing really, you are not even out of your wiggling chrysalis yet and already you are making people as far away as England throw their arms up in the air and cheer like they were watching sports. (It was your uncle Leon that did that. He was happy to hear about you.) You are the result of two people being very much in love and so far, apart from making your mother tired and a little bit sick, you have just been the cause of joy in the world. This world could do with some joy. Not a bad record. I doubt many that are much older than you have such a good one. Let's see how long you can keep it up!

1 era Ecografía

Llegué a la clínica a las 8:30am y tu papá ya estaba ahí. Me encantó verlo esperando, sentadito y con café recién comprado.

Entramos al consultorio, yo en la camilla y tu papá a mi lado, donde también podía ver el monitor. En seguida el doctor pudo ubicarte en mi panzita. Que alegría nos dio al verte! Podíamos ver tu cabecita y el resto de tu cuerpito aún formándose. Tienes 9 semanas y pude ver como tu corazón se movía muy rápido y escuchamos tus preciosos latidos. El doctor dice que estás PERFECTO.

Debiste ver los ojos de tu papá, bien abiertos para no perderse de ningún detalle. Mientras intercambíabamos sonrisas, tu papá acariciaba mi pierna y me mostraba su afecto para nosotros. Me hizo sentir en confianza, que estaba bien acompañada y rodeada de mucho amor.

Vimos moverte un par de veces y te sentí tan cerca, tan real y muero de ganas de verte otra vez!

Happy New Year

So, a new year has started and I am focussed on work, moving into our new flat, your Mother's and my trip to Ecuador and, most importantly, I am focussed on you and your mother. Building a person inside you is hard work and it makes your mother tired. Remember that from time to time, and give you mother a kiss. She deserves it. She is sleeping right now, so I am here talking to you.

It's amazing how sure of things I feel right now. With so much we don't know about the future, so much that is going to change this year, so much that is now out of my control, I should be feeling a little lost. But the idea of being with you and your mother is enough to put all the unknown into perspective. That is your gift to me, you and your mother. To feel, for the first time in my life, very sure of want I want and where I am headed.

What a great way to start the year! By the way, you birth year will be 100 years after the start of the first world war. I thought of that today. I will look up some nicer facts about 1914.

I often send your mother photos of flowers. I wonder if I will still be doing it when you read this? If not, lets get your mother some flowers now, or send her a picture! I've added one I recently sent to her to this post. Nite nite x