4 MONTHS - 29 Oct. 2010

It's been a while since I've written, it's been a busy few weeks.
Most importantly, the girls are 4 months old today! They are soooo sweet! Of course they still ahve their annoying moments, but they are more and more rare, and most of the time they are happy, smiling, wonderful girls!
They can both turn onto their side when lying on their belly - Liva did it for the fist time today, and thought it was so much fun she wanted to do it over and over again.
They are long/tall girls, they can hardly fit size 6 months, especially their legs are long. They are more or less the same size, though Liva seems to carry a bit more fat than Laia. They are absolutely beautiful, and people still stop us on the street to comment on how gorgeous they are. I still get annoyed, but at the same time it's nice to know strangers find them beautiful as well.

My parents were here for 4 wonderful days this week, they left Tuesday evening. As always it was difficult to say goodbye, but it was easier this time, knowing we'll see them again in a bit more than a month for 4 whole weeks! I had a huge translation due on Monday which I was only about half-way through, so my parents took the girls out for some hours Sunday afternoon. It was the first time since they were born that Albert and I were at home without kids, and we couldn't even enjoy it since I had to work. When my parents came home, my mom helped me, and together we managed to finish the translation at about 20:30 Sunday evening. Thank god they were here!

Besides all this I've been spending loads of time on the internet trying to find more translation work or on-line teaching, since my dream is to only work 15-20 hours for the language school where I work, and supplement it with work like this, which I can do from home. That way I don't have to leave the girls for too long, and we'll save money on childcare. I'm due back at work in January, so it's time I find something. If you need any work like this done, know of anyone who does, or know where I can apply to this kind of work, please let me know!!

The girls don't sleep much anymore, 30-45 minutes. They're awake now, so time to go take care of my two little darlings!
Laia & Liva



17 WEEKS - 20 Oct.

Ugh, what a day!! Both girls have been whining ALL day!! Most of the day yesterday and aaaaaalllll day today. I think it's because Albert has just had 1 week off, there has been no noise in the morning and the girls have slept until 8:00, 8:15, some days even 8:30. Now Albert's back at work, his alarm clock goes off at 6:30 and he gets up around 7:00. Already then the girls start stirring. After his shower, around 7:30, there's so much noise that they wake up. Even though they're real tired they just won't go back to sleep. So they whine instead. They nap for 30-40 minutes 3-4 times a day, not enough when you're not even 4 months old yet. The advantage is that by 18:30 they basically just collapse, so at least we have peace in the evenings. But it's tough being alone with them all day when they're like that. I can't wait until my parents come on Friday, even if it's only for 4 days - better than nothing!
To stop the girls whining I played loads with them today - Liva is so happy she has finally learned to laugh that she just laughs all the time, it's great. It's funny how different they are; Laia loves "playing wild" - she laughs like crazy when we throw her up in the air, swing her by the arms, play airplane, etc. Liva gets terrified when we do any of those things to her and starts crying. She's more into tickling, nudging, rubbing noses, etc. I think Laia will be a little gymnast when she gets older.

ALMOST 17 WEEKS - 18 Oct. 2010

We heard Liva laugh for the first time today - a real laugh! Laia has been doing it for a long time, and though it's easier to make Liva smile, she didn't know how to laugh. It annoyed her, sometimes I'd be playing with both of them and Laia would be laughing with all her heart. Liva would yell and make strange noises, and eventually start to cry because she couldn't laugh - or at least I assume that's why she would start crying. Last night when we were getting them ready to eat, Liva laughed. We wondered why and how, and nothing more happened - we almost thought we had dreamed it. But then this afternoon I was playing with both of them, and Liva laughed and laughed - Laia looked all surprised! Baby-laughter is just the sweetest sound in the world!

Our weekend was very nice! Saturday afternoon my mother-in-law came over again - poor woman! But she says she enjoys it! Albert and I went for a massage, I had 60 minutes of Thai massage, Albert had 30 minutes of foot massage. It had been my present from him for our 2 year anniversary. Afterwards we went shopping, bought clothes for me, and then went for shawarma (did I spell that right?), yumm yumm!! On the way home we bought bread at a great baker's, and bought some for his mom as well.
Sunday I met up with my mother-in-law and we took the girls for a walk in the park. I invited her to a coffee and croissant, and after a few hours I went home again with the girls. Poor Albert worked all week and all weekend - except Saturday afternoon - with the insulation in the living room. It looks great!!! And Sunday he even cooked dinner, what a guy! He had today off as well, he had hoped to finish the living room, but there's still a bit missing. My parent's are coming on Friday, hopefully it can be done by then.

Life is just perfect at the moment, the weather is wonderful - sunny and not too hot, the girls are super happy lately, Albert has been around the house for a whole week. What else could anyone ask for????!!!! :)

16 WEEKS - 13 Oct. 2010

We had a great 2nd anniversary, my mother-in-law came over at 9:00 and Albert and I left - went to pick up the minivan we had rented. We went to Ikea, Leroy Merlin, Toys R Us and some other places. Tuesday was a national holiday here, so many people had taken Monday off - I think they had all decided to go to the same places as us at the same time... We were stuck in traffic jams and spent hours and hours standing in line in the different shops. But we got everything we wanted, and actually enjoyed it. We talked a lot about what we had been doing at specific moments 2 years ago. At 17:00 we came home and Iaia (grandma) left - a short break before coming back at 20:00 so we could go out for dinner. We went to the hotel where we had the wedding-celebration.
The girls were on their best behaviour all day, Iaia was all dissappointed when she came at 20:00 that they were sleeping, and even more dissappointed that they hadn't woken up while we were out.

The last 2 days Albert has been working in the livingroom, putting up wooden boards on the ceiling, integrating lights etc. It's a lot of work, his brother came yesterday and helped a few hours. All I have to do is take care of the girls. Today I took them to the center to go shopping. I still get amazed at how easy they are, they just lie in the stroller and look around or sleep. So many people comment on how beautiful they are, and though I still get annoyed at all the attention, I get really proud with all the compliments! :)
Liva has started sucking her thumb - she was sucking it when she woke up this morning, when I tried giving her the dummy she spat it out and put her thumb right back in her mouth. Sweet! :) We're still working on lying on their bellies, Laia is really good by now, lifts up her head and chest. She rolls over, mainly to her left but she can also do it to her right. Liva gets totally angry when we put her on her belly, makes growling, complaining noises. But without noticing she's getting really good as well, though she doesn't turn around yet.

STILL 15.5 WEEKS - STILL 10 Oct. 2010

L'Avi - grandpa - came over today. He doesn't live in Barcelona, and since neither he nor we have a car we don't see him as often as we'd like. So he came over around noon, we had lunch and coffee and around 17:00 he left. It was nice seeing him again, and he was happy to see the girls.
The reason I've decided to tell this exciting information is to praise Albert, after all the criticizing I've been doing in the last posts. Albert cleaned the whole house - swept and vacuumed the floor, cleaned the bathroom, took down bags and bags of garbage - he cooked the entire lunch with no help, he cleaned the kitchen afterwards, and when he wasn't working he helped with the girls! So though I get really annoyed with him at times, I appreciate everything he does, and that happens more often than me getting annoyed! I guess that's why we'll be celebrating our 2-year wedding-anniversary tomorrow! :)

My mother-in-law is coming at 9:00, we've rented a mini-van and are going to Ikea, Leroy Merlin, Bauhaus etc. While I was in Denmark, Albert insulated the whole livingroom, we've bought wood to put on the ceiling to cover the insulation, and we need to buy some other things for it tomorrow. Once again, what a guy!
In the evening we're going out to dinner to celebrate. We've decided to go to the hotel where we held the wedding-dinner & party 2 years ago - it's not a very romantic restaurant, but we find the idea quite romantic (though maybe not very original?!). So my mother-in-law will get to spend the entire day with the girls, she's really looking forward to it.

STILL 15.5 WEEKS - 10 Oct. 2010

Just to finish off the story from yesterday, my mother-in-law called at 14:10 to say she wouldn't be at our place until about 16:00. Albert got mad at her over the phone, and after talking to her he decided to go grocery shopping. My mother-in-law doesn't like it when her sons are mad at her, so the poor woman rushed over here as quickly as she could, without having lunch or anything - and Albert wasn't even home. But at least she got to see the girls, and her and me had a good laugh about how silly men can be.

Laia rolled over this morning!! We've been practicing lying on the belly, Laia is getting really good, Liva still struggles and gets angry when we put her on her belly. This morning I decided to practice with them, and while I was helping Liva, Laia suddenly rolled onto her back! I put her back on her belly, and straight away she rolled to the other side, onto her back. We did it 2 more times, she seemed to find it quite fun, too. And I was just sooo proud of my little girl!! :)

STILL 15.5 WEEKS - 9 Oct. 2010

MEN!!!! The girls have a fixed schedule which I keep during the week - they wake up around 8, and sleep again aroung, 10:00, 13:00 and 16:00 for approximately 45 minutes. I didn't create this schedule, they did.
Today we wanted to go to a shop with antique furniture but at the same time Albert's mom's coming over at 14:00, so I said to Albert already yesterday it might be difficult to make it. The girls are used to taking their 1 o'clock nap in the stroller, but at 10:00 they sleep at home - it's too early to leave anyways, we can't all get showered and ready for 10:00.
At 10:45 Albert asks - for the second time - when I want to leave. I tell him - for the second time - that it depends on the girls' schedule and when they wake up. So he says "OK, so you want to leave at 13:00 or what?" Completely unneccessary since Laia was already awake and dressed, we just had to wait for Liva to wake up. But I know Albert and his pissy moods, so I woke up Liva, poor girl. As I was dressing her, Albert wanted to put Laia in the stroller, but I told hin to wait because they had to eat first, and I had to prepare milk for them as well. So he gets all pissed and says that OK, as always we'll do what I want. I try to explain that it's not what I want, I would also like to go to that shop, but now we have 2 little girls in our life, we have to do what they want. He didn't seem to believe me, it was what I want - as always.... So I feed the girls, and think that maybe Albert would prepare the milk or the stroller or something. Wrong.... After feeding them I prepare milk, prepare bottles to take with us in case the girls get hungry while we're out, and I get the stroller ready - forget their teddies, blankest and parasol. We go for a walk and don't talk the entire time because Albert's in a bad mood. We get to Diagonal with Bruc and I tell him that my work has rented a place somewhere around there but I haven't seen it yet. He asks why they have rented a place and I tell him it's because they need more space for classrooms. "They could set up a day-care for the kids then, too" was his reply. Followed by silence... I enventually say "Why doesn't your work do that, there are parents working there, too?" Followed by silence.... Nothing more was said on the walk. What a great way to ruin a perfectly nice Saturday, all just because we couldn't go to the shop he wanted to go to. And had it not been for his mom coming at 14:00 we could have made it without problems, so you could say it's his own fault - but of course he'd never say that!

15.5 WEEKS - 7 Oct. 2010

I taught today for the first time in 2010, 3 5-year olds so it was quite easy. I have to be there between 18:00 and 18:15, it's only 5 minutes from where we live. I checked with Albert that it would be possible before confirming the classes with the mothers, and was told that yes, no problem, he can be home in time. Suddenly last night it was a huge problem, it would be really difficult for him to get home on time. All day today he was all pissy when I spoke to him, he's busy at work, it had been really stressful having to leave, what do we do if one Thursday there's a problem and he has to stay longer, etc. So the joy of starting teaching again was pretty much killed by a pissy husband. He came home at 18:10 and I arrived 5 minutes late to class - I could probably have made it on time had I known there's a bicing-parking right next to the house where I teach.... But it wasn't a problem, I just taught 5 minutes longer and that was that. When I came home, Albert was still in a bad mood and insisted I move the class 30 minutes or so. I tried explaining that the mothers had wanted class at 18:00, the kids are only 5 years old and can't have class so late. And what was his reply?? "What's going to happen to them, are they going to explode or something?" Man, sometimes he can be soooooooooooooooooooo annoying!!! So now I'm looking for somebody who can come watch the girls for 20-30 minutes every Thursday so I can enjoy teaching again and avoid anymore stupid comments from my husband!
Teaching again was great, the kids are really cute. And riding a bike again was wonderful, I miss doing exercise and riding my bike all over Barcelona.

15 WEEKS - 5 Oct. 2010

Last night I fell asleep on the couch at 21:00, Albert woke me up about 30 minutes later and told me to go to bed, he'd take care of preparing the food for the girls etc. So I went to bed and slept until 23:30 when we had to feed the girls. I guess it was needed, I hadn't realized how tired I was! Today there's a program on Spanish TV - Pillars of the earth miniseries - which I quite enjoy, but it finishes late, close to 1 in the morning. My lovely husband told me to enjoy the program, he'd feed the girls, prepare the bottles etc. There are some advantages to not having a lot of milk and therefore not breastfeeding at night! :)

14.5 WEEKS - 2 Oct. 2010

We bought a single stroller today, the double one we have doesn't fit in most elevators here so I sometimes feel kind of stuck. Now I can take the girls to my work again, I can get around supermarkets etc.

The girls have started interacting a bit - when we put them next to each other they sometimes look at each other and then they start laughing. It's not much, but it's a beginning :)