10 MONTHS - 29 April 2011

Liva and Laia are 10 months old today, WOW!!! I know I have been neglecting this blog, but I have been extremely busy with loads of translations. Deadline for one is tomorrow, I'm starting to feel like I know what I'm doing again now.
Back to Liva and Laia! They are such wonderful girls!! Always happy, playing and talking loads. Laia can stand on her own, but doesn't know it herself yet. We often hold her and then let go, she'll stand for a couple of seconds until she realizes nobody is holding her, then she sits down. They both cruise all over the place, walking around holding on to furniture. We bought a walker for them a while ago, but they're not interested in that.
They eat almost everything, and love tasting new food. We're giving them more and more finger foods and they're doing great eating on their own.
They both talk loads, real words come out of their mouth but we still don't think they actually know what they're saying. They often seem to understand each other, though.
The cats are being chased all over the house, so now we're teaching Liva and Laia to not touch them when they're sleeping in their beds or on their pillows. It seems to be working, and the poor cats get a break.
Liva still looks for her Senyor Zebra on the shelves, and still grabs the cows that are up there. She has accepted her bunny, but I think she would happily exchange it for Senyor Zebra if we could get him back.
I've started  meeting other moms with babies, and Liva and Laia love interacting with other kids. It's great watching them learn how to play. We meet one little boy who is one week older than them once or twice a week, and go to a mommy meeting once a week. Last time there were five babies all born in June last year, a 6-month old, some even smaller and one older, loads of fun!
Going for a walk is getting more and more difficult, Liva and Laia still love being out and seeing new things - they especially love seeing animals and want to touch all the dogs, the bigger the better. But their stroller is quite narrow, we bought the most narrow one we could find so it would fit in our elevator and through our front door. Up until now the stroller has been perfect, but it's getting too small for Liva and Laia, they're not comfortable anymore. We've bought a second hand much bigger stroller, but in Denmark. I'm going up for ten days on my own with the girls in June, we'll get the stroller then and bring it down.
I'm starting to get extremely annoyed with people's comments, especially the question whether they are a boy and a girl or 2 boys. It's not that I care what strangers think about my girls, it's the fact that people talk or comment without even looking or thinking. Even when I dress the girls in pink, open the pink parasols on their stroller, and they sit on their pink blankets people ask - Laia hardly has any hair, and since Liva does they must be boy and girl. Or since they don't have their ears pierced, they must be 2 boys. If one wears a pink dress and the other wears a blue dress, it's boy and girl because they're wearing pink and blue. I HATE people who don't think, I've hated that all my life! One of the worst things for me as a teacher are students who don't think and just answer with "I don't know". I don't expect everybody to know everything, and it's fine if you don't know, that's why I'm there teaching you. But PLEASE think a bit before you tell me you don't know. PLEASE look at my daughters and their clothes or the colors around them before you tell me they are beautiful little boys. Or, best solution of all, please just leave me alone and let me enjoy my walk with my daughters, without making me feel like some kind of attraction!

Work's keeping me very busy, lately there's been too much and I have been extremely stressed. But it's calming down a bit now, and I have learned not to take on so much, I can't deal with it. Except for that I'm doing great. I haven't lost any more weight, but have more or less given up worrying about it.
Albert and me are doing great as well, we love our Saturday afternoons off and are extremely thankful to my mother-in-law for coming every Saturday.

9½ MONTHS - 17 April 2011

I haven't really been very motivated to write, since I couldn't find anything to write about. Though the weather is brilliant, I am soooooooooooooooo bored on my daily walks, and Liva and Laia seem to be as well. So last week I decided to do something about it. As I've mentioned before, I know of an international mothers group here, and have met up with them at a playground a few Fridays. The problem is that the kids are mostly 18-24 months, so they're all very different to Liva and Laia - and the playground is not very baby-friendly, it's more for toddlers.
Last week I sent out a mail to all the people in the group, saying I needed to meet mothers with children Liva and Laia's age. I need other mothers to talk to, I need people who can give me help and advice when I don't know what I'm doing, and I would love for Liva and Laia to interact with babies their own age. We have a playdate with Heather, our babysitter, and a little girl she babysits every Wednesday, but it's only 20-30 minutes, and the girl is 5 or 6 years old.
On Monday I'm meeting a mother of a 9-month old boy for a playdate and a coffee, and on Tuesday I'm going to another international mom's group with babies 5-11 months old. I've also agreed with an American mom who I've met once before who has a daughter 1 day older than Liva and Laia, that we meet up 1 day every week and let the girls play while we chat. I'm really looking forward to all this, it will break the routine for all 3 of us.
More moms replied to my mail, I'm sure that after Easter I'll be meeting up with mothers much more. That will be great! And who knows, maybe I'll even make a couple of friends for myself.

9 MONTHS + 2 week - 12 April 2011

The days all seem to blend together lately, I know what day it is depending on what I have to do - Mondays nothing or meeting, Tuesdays teach in the evening, Wednesdays nothing or meetings, Thursdays teach in the evening, Fridays teach in the afternoon and possible meetings, Albert home early, Saturdays Albert home, mother-in-law here to give us a break in the afternoon, Sundays sleep in. I used to get up 6 of 7 mornings a week with Liva and Laia, but last week I told Albert that wasn't fair - I also work, I have deadlines, classes to teach and prepare, meetings, etc, I don't have time during the day because Liva and Laia require 100% attention at the moment and hardly sleep, and I also have to do stuff around the house. So this morning Albert got up when Liva and Laia woke up, first time shortly after 5:00, then again around 6:00. At 7:30 he came in and gently woke me up, the girls were changed and happier than they have been for days, and there was a huge, hot cup of coffee prepared for me. It was a wonderful morning! :) The agreement is that Albert will get up Tuesdays and Thursdays and wake me up when he has to get ready for work. I still get to sleep in as long as I want Sunday mornings. Oh, it will be lovely!

9 MONTHS + 1 week - 7 April 2011

I'm wearing pre-pregnancy pants!! They're a bit tight, and I think they were a bit big before the pregnancy, but I tried them on a few months ago and couldn't wear them. I'm wearing them now, and they look fine! A few more kilos and I guess I can wear all my clothes from before the pregnancy. Well, it's about time, it's been 9 months. I remember when Liva and Laia were 3 months old, I was complaining about my body and a friend of mine said: "It takes 9 months for your body to make a baby, so give your body 9 months to get back to normal". At that time I thought "6 months, plenty of time". I was in for a surprise, it's not as easy as it sounds.

The weather in Barcelona is lovely at the moment, sunny and not too hot. Liva and Laia are clearly ejoying it too. While on our walk today, they suddenly spontaniously started cuddeling in their stroller:

The disadvantage is that they don't sleep much. They won't sleep while we're out, there's just too much going on. For a few weeks they slept for almost 2 hours in the afternoon, they are now back to sleeping only about 1 hour. And they've started waking up earlier in the morning, around 6, sometimes even 5:30. So now they sleep from 19:00 to 6:00, again from 8:00 to 9:00 (which is important, this gives me time to shower and get ready for the day), and then from 15:00 to 16:00. Doesn't give me a lot of time to do other things during the day. But they are healthy and happy, that's all that matters! :)

9 MONTHS - 4 April 2011

I took Liva and Laia for their nine-month check-up this afternoon and the nurse was absolutely amazed by them. She says they are very advanced and intelligent; the way Laia can stand and almost walk is impressive, how Liva "talks" is unbelievable, the way they take in their surroundings and how much they understand is unusual for babies their age, and they are as tall as 12-18 month olds. The nurse even went as far as to say that they will be models when they are older, they'll have the body and the looks for it! :) And then she said about five times that they are so sweet she could just eat them, she wants to cuddle them and never let go. I know exactly how she feels, I'm lucky enough to cuddle them every day!
Liva weighs a little over 9 kgs and is 74.5cm tall, Laia weighs about 8.5 kgs and is 74cm tall. We have to start giving them fish, and they can have cheese and real yoghurt - so far we've been giving them special baby yoghurts.
I am so proud of my little girls, I think I walked out of that doctor's office beaming brighter than any christmas tree ever! When we came home and I took them out of the stroller I gave them an extra long cuddle and tons of kisses - I can't get enough of them, and it seems other people can't either. Luckily Liva and Laia seem to love it when I cuddle and kiss them, so I will continue doing it ALL the time.

9 MONTHS - 3 April 2011

I spent the whole day without my family today for the first time since Liva & Laia were born! While we were in Denmark in December there were days where Albert and I went out together for the whole day while my parents took care of the girls, and I think we might have done it once or twice here in Barcelona as well, but I haven't been all on my own the entire day for the past nine months. And though I might sound like a horrible mom (again), I really enjoyed it! I thought I would miss them all terribly, especially Liva and Laia, but I was fine. The school where I work had organized a day out for all the staff - admin, teachers, managers, everyone. They had hired a bus to take us about 1 hour north of Barcelona to the middle of nowhere for the typical Catalan tradition of calçots. I LOVE calçots, and since I haven't been at the school much the past year or so, I figured this was a good opportunity to catch up with everybody. We were about 30-35 people, the youngest were around 3 years old, the oldest in their 40s. The weather was decent, the wine was OK, the place was nice, the food was wonderful and the atmosphere was fantastic!
The school is now talking about making it an annual event, I will definitely go again in the future, though then I will bring the girls and Albert if he wants to come. I saw Liva and Laia briefly before putting them to bed, I'm looking forward to spending time with them tomorrow afternoon - I'm going to be out all morning, Heather will take care of them. Gosh, am I really a bad mother???

9 MONTHS - 29 March 2011

Liva and Laia are 9 months old today, and how they have developed over the past month is just incredible!
They both stand up using any furniture or anything else they can grab hold of - our legs, their stroller, each other... Laia walks by holding onto furniture, and loves walking holding our fingers. She sometimes lets go of whatever she's holding onto and practices her balance - she can manage a few seconds before falling over.
They can both pick anything up from anywhere, the smaller the better. Liva puts everything in her mouth, Laia just picks it up and drops it again.
One of their favorite past-times is taking toys out of boxes, Liva loves putting the toys in the box and then taking them out again. I can leave them on their own to entertain themselves or each other, but I do have to keep an eye on them the whole time - they are extremely quick, and know exactly where they shouldn't be. Like in the kitchen eating catfood.
They love playgrounds, especially the swings and slides. They love being where there are other children, sometimes it's enough to just place them where they can see other kids and they'll laugh out loud watching them play. They can also stay entertained for hours watching pigeons, parrots or dogs on our walks.
They understand "no", but react very differently. Laia looks at us with a cheeky smile and continues doing whatever she is doing. Liva gets all upset about having done something wrong, and looks at us with a sad face for the longest time.
Laia doesn't seem to be afraid of anything, Liva is afraid of strangers and loud noises.
Though Liva is the more careful and scared one of the two, she seems to be the one hurting herself all the time - she choked on catfood a few days ago, she fell off their rocking horse and hurt herself, she's constantly falling over when she tries to stand up, and she seems to have a new blue mark daily. Laia is just much more agile, and better at keeping her balance to avoid falling. Laia crawls really well and really quickly, I've seen Liva crawl a few times, but she still prefers dragging herself zombie-style along the floor.
They love our walks, and many times they don't sleep when we're out, they're too busy looking around.
They eat really well, and eat most things we serve them. It's great that they can eat banana, cookies and bread on their own, that keeps them busy in their stroller when they start getting cranky. They both hold their bottle when drinking milk, and are getting really good at drinking water from sippy-cups.
Their sleeping patterns are changing a bit, they still wake up around 6:00/6:30, sleep again around 8:00 for 30-45 minutes so I can shower. If they sleep again in the morning it's normally only for 20-30 minutes, instead they nap for 1½ hours in the afternoon, which is great! They normally sleep at the same time, which is the most important for me!
Though Liva was a lot of work as an infant, and we thought she'd be the more difficult one as they got bigger, she's such an easy baby. She can sit on the floor and play with her toys for the longest time, she "crawls" around and picks up different toys, plays with one for a while, then takes another, chases the cats a bit, plays with toys again, and is generally happy. If I (or Albert, my mother-in-law, Heather, whoever) sit on the floor, she loves playing giving and taking toys. Laia, on the other hand, is hard work. She wants to be with someone all the time! If we sit on the floor to play with them, she crawls all over us, pulling our hair, jewellery, glasses, whatever she can pull. If we sit on the couch, she's on her feet pulling at our legs, trying to climb up. She can't, so whines. If I try to do some work at the computer, she's next to the chair, on her feet, whining, wanting to sit with me - so she can pull my hair & jewellery. We ignore her most of the time, she has to learn to be on  her own or with her sister.
Laia teases Liva all the time; when Liva has a toy, Laia takes it from her. When Liva tries to stand up somewhere but struggles, Laia will climb over right next to her, stand up, and look down at her. Liva cries easily and Laia knows exactly what she has to do to make Liva cry. Since Liva is much more developed with her speach, we believe that as they get older, Liva will know how to get Laia back verbally - it will be interesting to see how they'll get along when they are bigger.
They are tall girls, wear size 12-18 months clothes, and Liva is very heavy! On Moday I have a doctor's appointment with them for their 9-month check-up, I'm looking forward to that.

I'm doing well, keeping busy with combining work and being a mother. It's all working out great still, but I'm starting to realize just how exhausting being a twin mom is! Liva and Laia crate a lot of work, besides the obvious of feeding, dressing and changing 2 babies, there are also bottles, laundry and dishes to clean, food to cook for 2 lunches, fruit to prepare for 2 snacks, and 2 little lives to divide my love evenly between. As much as I love seeing them smile, hearing them laugh, watching them take in the world on our walks, I also love when Heather or my mother-in-law come and take Liva and Laia off my hands for a few hours. When they sleep and I think I can get a break for a few minutes to watch the news or have a coffee without them pulling at my cup or needing me to hold them becuase they've hurt themselves, they wake up the moment I've switched on the TV or finished preparing the coffee. Only in the afternoon when they take their long nap do I get some time off, and in the evenings after 19:00 (after cooking, cleaning the kitchen, doing the laundry and preparing bottles and lunch for the following day).
I've lost 2 kgs, not a lot, I know, but a start and a great motivation. It's wonderful knowing that the scale isn't frozen on that same horrible number that I was seeing for months! Another 4 kgs to be back at my pre-pregnancy weight, 6½ kgs to be back at my wedding-day weight, but I'm not sure that will happen again... The goal is the pre-pregnancy weight.

Albert and I are doing great! Just as good if not better than before Liva and Laia entered our lives. I love my evenings with him, and we have loads of fun during the day at the weekends when we can all 4 be together. Being a little family is working out great, and is even better than I had ever imagined it would be!

8½ MONTHS - 24 March 2011

While Liva, Laia and I were out for our walk, I noticed a lady walking her dog and pushing a stroller. It made me remember the pang of envy I used to feel up until about 18 months ago everytime I saw a lady, a stroller and a dog - I wanted to be that lady. Then it hit me; I am more than that lady now! I'm not only pushing a stroller, I'm pushing a twin stroller! I'm not walking a dog, but we have two wonderful cats at home, and though I'm so much more a dog-person than a cat-person, I would never exchange Tatanka and Tomahawk for a dog.
I also noticed that the lady today didn't look happy. She looked tired. Exhausted. And then I thought, maybe all these ladies I've been envying for all these years aren't even happy. Maybe their situation at home isn't a happy one, maybe they don't like their job, maybe they don't have a job and are worried all the time about finances, maybe the kid doesn't sleep, maybe the kid screams a lot, maybe it's a real hassle having to take out the dog god knows how many times a day. I have always been happy with my life, with my situation. Of course I have done things I sometimes wished I hadn't done, but whenever I've found myself in an unhappy situation, I have done something about it, and have changed it. Now I have everything I've always dreamed of! My mother told me shortly after Liva and Laia were born that she remembers when I was five or six years old, I said I wanted a nice, good-looking husband and twins. All I know is that as far back as I can remember, that's what I have wanted. And that's what I have. Not only do I have a nice, good-looking husband, I have a great, romantic, sweet, funny, generous, good-looking husband! Not only do I have twins, I have sweet, easy, fun, absolutely beautiful twin girls! I've said it before, and I'm happy to say it again: I love my life!

8½ MONTHS - 23 March 2011

I've just been sick for three days, it's been dreadful! On Wednesday when I came home from work, Albert said he wasn't feeling good, and went to lay down. I hardly saw him again until Thursday morning. He said everything hurt and that he felt unbelievably tired. He felt better and better as Thursday went by, and by the evening he was fine. I woke up Sunday morning and felt the same way - even my eyes hurt. Albert took Liva & Laia out with his German friends for a couple of hours, I was in bed most of the day. Monday Heather came for three hours, the original plan was that I would go get a haircut, the first since July last year, but the plans changed. She took Liva & Laia out, I stayed at home and relaxed and prepared lunch for the girls for the coming week. I felt OK, Liva and Laia were so considerate that they napped almost 2 hours in the afternoon. But then I woke up yesterday morning and felt terrible. Once again everything hurt, including my belly. Albert called in sick and stayed home, we called Heather and asked her to come for three hours to help out. I spent the entire day in bed, sleeping most of the time. Today I feel better, though still not great - and I'm unbelievably tired though I've done nothing but sleep for three days. Liva and Laia haven't been very considerate today, and refused to nap this afternoon. Which means they were really tired by 17:00, by then it's too late to put them down. Liva started crying and cried for 1½ hours - while they had dinner, while I bathed them and after I had put them to bed. Eventually at 18:30 she collapsed into deep sleep. Laia did great for not having slept at all, she hardly cried and even laughed a few times. Now I've just worked a few hours, eaten the dinner Albert prepared, and though it's only 22:00 I'm off to bed - read a bit and then sleep. I hope to feel better again soon, I don't have much patience with Liva and Laia when I'm tired and half sick, and then I feel really guilty for not being patient with them. It's not their fault, poor girls!! And on top of it all, Liva is sick as well - this explains the pooping all the way up her back for the past few days. She has a stomch flu, and is now on medication and a no-dairy diet. She has to eat soy milk instead if their regular milk, and a rice-pudding something for dinner instead of their regular puddings. She also has to have medicine for the next 6 days. Poor little thing!

8½ MONTHS - 19 March 2011

I'm feeling unwelcome in my own home! As I've explained before, my mother-in-law comes every Saturday afternoon to be with Liva & Laia. It gives Albert and me a break, and we normally take advantage of the time to go out together, clothes-shopping, out to dinner, for a drink or whatever. We make sure we're not back until after the girls are asleep, it's a blessing - most of the time!
First of all, my mother-in-law always brings something when she comes. A few weeks ago she had spent 30-40€ on seafood, so we had "a little something" for dinner. Sometimes she brings fruit and vegetables, but so much that we can't eat it all and end up throwing some away because it's gone bad. Or she'll bring unnecessary little things for Liva and Laia, or whatever. Though I heard Albert say to her three times on the phone this morning not to bring anything, she came with a box of chocolates. I don't know whether she feels like a guest who has to come with a present for the hosts when she comes over, but it's how she makes me feel she feels, which sucks! She's Liva and Laia's grandma and my husband's mom, I don't understand why she feels she has to bring us something. And she has very little money, it would be different if she were super rich, but she isn't.
Today she arrived at 16:30, we had only been home for an hour or so and were all exhausted. We've been out all day with our German friends, walking along the beach and enjoying the nice weather. Liva had poop all the way up her back again, but this time we were prepared, we had extra clothes along, and changed her while we were out. When Iaia came over, we were all relaxing. After about 2 minutes she asks when we're leaving. I wasn't planning on leaving today, I had figured we could all be here, Albert and I could relax while she's with the girls. Both Albert and I avoid answering her. We're all in the living room, and Liva and Laia are partly with her, partly with me. Every time one of the girls looks at me or comes to me she says something along the lines of "always with mommy - are you a mommy's girls at the moment?". And every 5 minutes at least she tells us we should go. I have no idea where we'd go, we have no intentions of going out to dinner tonight, we just want to be home and relax. So right now I'm hiding away in our bedroom, I'm clearly not wanted in the living room where my girls are.

8½ MONTHS - 18 March 2011

The toy cow I ordered for Liva over the internet has finally arrived - and it's nothing like what I had expected... But it doesn't really matter, because Liva seems to be accepting the rabbit I bought a while back, which we're calling Senyorita Ninus. Liva still looks for Senyor Zebra on the shelves, and it still breaks my heart every time she does. Especially when she looks up at me and starts saying things I don't understand; I'm convinced she's trying to ask me where her zebra is and why she can't have it back. Close to tears, I explain that he's gone and he won't be coming back. Then I give her Senyorita Ninus. Liva accepts it, yesterday she grabbed it herself and played with it for a while. Ninus will never be Senyor Zebra, but hopefully Liva will learn to love this new friend as much as she loved him!

8½ MONTHS - 17 March 2011

I'M A HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE MOTHER!!!!! We went out to meet Albert's friend from Germany and his wife and daughter. It was a wonderful day, the first really sunny and warm day this year. We left home around 11 and spent most of the day outside, first at the park where the girls got to swing, Laia got to walk around a bit holding my hands, and everybody was enjoying themselves. We went to a café to have something to eat and drink, it was still too early for the girls' solids, so they had banana, cookies, bread and milk. When it was actually time for their solids, it was quite inconvenient - there was a 5-year old who was had to think of as well, so we skipped Liva and Laia's solids. By about 15:00 they started getting cranky, we took them out of the stroller a bit, carried them instead of pushing them, we knew they were tired but there was so much going on they wouldn't sleep. Eventually by 15:30 I said I was going to take them home, I felt bad keeping them out like that. We agreed to all just call it a day, and around 16:00 Albert, Liva, Laia and I arrived at home. When I took Laia out of the stroller, she was all wet. Suddenly I remembered, they hadn't been changed since 10:30 this morning. We quickly got all their clothes off, I did Laia while Albert did Liva. Besides being wet on her pants and having her diaper full, Laia was OK. But Liva, poor, poor Liva! She was full of poop all the way up to her neck! Albert can't handle poop, so when he realized, I took over and he took care of Laia. I carried Liva in nothing but her diaper - and poop all over - into the bathroom, put her in the shower while I got the tub ready for her. She sat there, small, cold, chubby, in her diaper, covered in poop, shivering. I will never forget that image. Poor little baby!!! She was better after her bath, but I've learned my lesson - I will never forget to change my girls ever again!

8 MONTHS + 2 WEEKS - 15 March 2011

My parents have just been here for four days, and it's been wonderful! They left this morning, it's always difficult to say goodbye, especially when we don't know when we'll see each other again. It's not really difficult for me to say goodbye, we haven't lived in the same country since I moved away from home at 18. But I feel sad for the girls, having their grandparents here 24 hours a day, then suddenly they're not here anymore. The girls were taking their morning nap when my parents left, when they woke up I brought them into the living room. As we were going there, I explained that Mormor & Morfar had left, though I was pretty sure they had no idea what I was saying. I brought Liva in first, she looked towards the couch all ready to smile when we entered the living room. When she realized it was empty, she looked up at me, back to the couch, and back to me. I explained again that Mormor & Morfar had gone home, but that we'll see them again in a couple of months. I put her on the floor to play and went to get Laia. I explained the situation to her as well, but when we entered the living room she looked at the couch, quickly turned her head towards the dining table, back to the couch, then up at me. It's been a really grey, rainy day today, and impossible to leave the house with Liva & Laia, making them even more cranky - on top of having had three adults around them for the past four days, they were stuck in the apartment with only mommy...
At one point I had had enough and decided to take them out, rain or not. I got them all ready, shoes on, jackets on, stroller wrapped in plastic, food ready to take along, umbrellas, etc. We get to the elevator, I push the button and..... nothing..... I am SO fed up with this elevator!!! Girls back inside, shoes off, jackets off, back on the living room floor. Girls whining, mom going crazy. Lunch. Laia cranky, would hardly eat. Bed. Both girls go straight to sleep. I watch TV for a while, then decide to take a nap as well - my parents being here means going to bed quite late, but still waking up with the girls, who decided to wake up at 6 at the latest every morning the past 4 mornings. It was 14:55 when I lay down for my nap, at 15:05 I woke up because Liva was awake, crying. Great! After a few minutes I went to get her, by then Laia was also awake, crying. Luckily I could hear the elevator was working again; shoes back on, jackets back on, plastic on stroller, food ready, and off we went. We went to the mall, there's a play area which Liva and Laia love. We spent about 20 minutes there, they had a yoghurt, we walked around a bit, and about 1½ hours later we were back home, Liva and Laia in a great mood!! Shortly after I prepared dinner, we were fooling around while eating and Liva laughed more than I have ever seen her laugh. Laia laughed loads as well, but Liva was completely out of it. It was wonderful, a great end to a pretty difficult day! Albert came home while I was getting them ready for bed, he took over and I went to teach. I've just done some work for my meeting tomorrow, now it's off to bed. Albert has vacation the rest of the week, one of his friends from Germany is coming tomorrow with his wife and daughter, we're looking forward to that. They'll be staying at a hotel, but hopefully we'll see them loads. Heather is coming tomorrow morning, I had forgotten Albert wasn't working this week, and we want to give her hours to make sure we don't lose her! I'm sure Liva and Laia will be happy to see her, and they'll have fun with Albert's friend's daughter, they like being around other children.

8 MONTHS + 1 WEEK - 10 March 2011

Liva misses her Senyor Zebra!! Liva and Laia have two shelves in their room with all their stuffed animals on, they have never shown any interest in these shelves. After Senyor Zebra has gone missing, Liva looks at the shelves every time we're in their room. There's a cow which from far resembles Senyor Zebra a bit, every time she sees it she gets all excited, stretches out her arms and says "Tatatata". When we let her grab the cow she gets all disappointed, drops him and continues looking on the shelves. But there's no Senyor Zebra... We've tried with almost every stuffed animal they have, she won't accept any of them. Both Albert and I have spent hours searching the internet to see if we could find a new Senyor Zebra, Albert even contacted the company who made him. They have no more, and have stopped producing them. I checked E-bay, amazon etc, no luck. Yesterday I ordered a new teddy at amazon, a pink and white striped cow. It has long, thin arms and legs like the zebra, we assume it is the shape more than anything else which makes Liva & Laia love these animals so dearly.  We'll see what happens when it arrives. Today I came past a baby store and saw a rabbit in the window, also with long, thin arms and legs. In the shop they let Liva hold it, it's the first stuffed animal she hasn't thrown away with all her force when we give it to her, so I bought it. She touched it a bit like she used to touch Senyor Zebra, I think she might accept it in a few days. When we came home and I wanted to put them in their beds for their nap, she looked all over the shelves again. Still no Senyor Zebra... The rabbit (or the cow we ordered) will never be Senyor Zebra, but hopefully it will compensate a bit.

8 MONTHS + 1 WEEK - 7 March 2011

LOL - Albert and I took Liva & Laia out for a loooong walk today. When it was time for their nap, we lay them down as always. Normally we put Senyor zebra and Senyor mono close to their face for them to cuddle with. Without Senyor zebra, we had taken a cow along for Liva - same material as Senyor zebra and more or less the same colors. But of course a completely different shape and just not what she's used to. We had put Liva comfortably in the stroller, and put the cow where Senyor zebra normally goes. As we were putting down Laia, the cow was descreetly dropped over the side of the stroller onto the sidewalk. We put him back where he should be, and started walking. Next thing we see is the poor cow come flying full power out of the stroller - this time Liva didn't just drop it, she actually threw it with all her force. Poor little cow! And poor Liva... We put the cow back, and eventually she accepted it. But it will never be Senyor zebra. How sad!!

8 MONTHS + 1 WEEK - 6 March 2011

It seems that Liva and Laia can do new things every day. Laia can now stand up using any furniture in the house, and she crawls really well. Liva is starting to get up on all fours, ready to crawl instead of dragging herself along the floor like a zombie. Yesterday we all went out for a walk, Liva and Laia look at everything, smile at people, wave, and we think Laia said "hola".
This morning my mother-in-law took the girls for a walk on her own for the first time. She was really excited about it, and it was great for Albert and me to get a few hours on our own. When she came back she was thrilled, the girls had been wonderful, she had loved how everybody looked at them and made comments, she had been really proud and told everyone that she is the Iaia. BUT - when I was in Denmark with Liva and Laia in August, when they were only about 7 weeks old, my aunt gave them each a stuffed animal; a zebra for Liva and a monkey for Laia. They love these teddies, sleep with them, cuddle them and play with them when we go for a walk. Of course I had put the teddies in the stroller this morning, as always when going out for a walk. When it was time for Liva and Laia's nap there was no zebra.... We looked everywhere, he's gone. It makes both Albert and me really sad, the girls have had these teddies since they were only a few weeks old and love them. We have loads of pictures where the teddies are in the background somewhere, and they were very special to us, and to the girls as well. Now Liva's beloved Senyor Zebra is gone :(. Albert is furious with his mother for not being more careful. I'm just really sad, it's such a shame. I imagine the girls being bigger and seeing pictures of themselves as babies with Senyor Zebra and Senyor Mono, it will be fun for Laia to see herself with Senyor Mono, Liva will ask what happened to her Senyor Zebra. What do we tell her??

Liva (2 months) & Senyor Zebra

Laia (2½ months) & Senyor Mono

8 MONTHS - 1 March 2011

When we moved into our apartment a little over a year ago, we spent a long time looking for a shower curtain. We didn't actually want a curtain, we wanted a glass wall but couldn't afford it. We couldn't find a curtain we both liked, probably because we didn't want one in the first place, and eventually ended up buying one with a cow on - I love cows and Albert had reached a point where he just didn't care anymore. The curtain is white on the bottom half, and see through on the top half. I never quite understood why it was see through, but this morning I was very happy about it! Liva and Laia have had one of those rare days where they won't sleep at the same time - meaning I can't shower in the morning when they're asleep. Since they're all mobile now, I can't just put them somewhere and shower quickly, too scary! So I put them in their bouncing chairs in the bathroom. Thanks to the curtain being see through they could see me and thought it was loads of fun, and I could see them. Not the ideal situation for showering, but the ideal solution when they won't sleep at the same time. And at the moment we're happy we have a curtain instead of a glass wall, it would have been so much harder to bathe Liva and Laia had there been a wall in our tiny bathroom!

When I change the girls, I normally put one in one of their beds while I change the other. Today I was wiping Liva's little bum when suddenly Laia started laughing and laughing from her bed behind me. When I turned around she was standing up, holding onto the side of the bed and clearly thought it was the best thing that ever happened to her during her 8 months of life. While she was standing there, Tatanka walked past her bed. Laia tried to touch him, and leaned (way too!!) far over the side, I was worried she'd fall out. But I had Liva naked and squirming on the changing table, and for a few seconds had no idea what to do! Luckily Laia decided Tatanka wasn't all that interesting and decided to jump up and down instead. When Albert came home, we lowered the bottoms of the beds so the girls can stand up as they please without me worrying they'll fall out.

So much has happened with the girls in just one week, suddenly they're mobile and come into the kitchen when I'm preparing their food, they can stand up in their bed, they have learned new games, they communicate with each other and laugh loads. Liva's favorite game is when we catch her and tickle her. When we come in after she wakes up, she tries to hide in her blankets (yes in, not under, she hasn't quite grasped that yet) and squeels in delight because she knows we'll tickle her. We have a big duck handpuppet which we play with, the duck will look at the girls for a while and then suddenly attack and tickle one of them. Liva goes nuts every time we play, screams in delight and laughs and laughs. Laia doesn't quite see the fun in those kind of games, she prefers being thrown into the air, swung around by her arms, or anything which involves standing and jumping and using her legs. And I'll play any of those games with them all day long just to hear them laugh! My reward is kisses and cuddles from the girls, I can't think of anything I'd rather want!

8 MONTHS - 28 February 2011

Liva and Laia are 8 months old today - well, the 29th, but since there is no 29th this month it's today.
They are extremely happy girls, and love playing. They're starting to play more and more with each other, looking at each other and laughing or grabbing and giving things. Laia started crawling about 3 days ago, Liva drags herself along the floor with her arms - Albert says she looks like a zombie. They love being able to go where they want. Liva still makes loads of sounds and sometimes words such as "Laia", "papa" or "Tata" (Tatanka, the name of our black cat) come out - the only one she seems conscious of is Tatanka. Laia doesn't talk quite as much, last Friday she started clicking her tongue which she has been doing ever since.
Liva holds her own bottle when eating, once I tried to get Laia to do it and after a while she grabbed her bottle with one hand and looked at me with an expression that said "I can do this no problem!". Just to prove her point she took the bottle out of her mouth, swung it around in the air for a bit, and put it back in her mouth - all still with just one hand - and kept looking at me with that same expression. After the show she let go of the bottle and her look said "I can do it, but if you want me to eat, you hold it because I can't be bothered!". So we still hold Laia's bottle when she eats.... They can eat cookies on their own, but not much else. I tried with banana, they almost choked because they put the whole piece into their mouth. Smaller pieces they "chew" on for a bit, then spit them out.
Laia can get from crawling or lying position into a sitting position, and both can pull themselves onto their knees when sitting in their beds and pulling themselves up by the bars. Laia can almost get into standing position when holding on to furniture.
Liva can clap her hands, and loves doing it. They both wave, but never when we say hello or goodbye.
They love being bathed and splash water everywhere. I am really looking forward to the summer and taking them to the beach!

They love being tickled, they love when we lie on the floor with them, they love playing peeka-boo, they love dancing and singing, and they love being cuddled and kissed. They hate having their faces wiped or their noses touched. Liva doesn't particularly enjoy being dressed - undressed is no problem, dressed is a huge theater. They don't like when we leave them alone in a room, but after a while they seem to forget they're alone and start playing. They are very open, loving girls, they smile at strangers - though Liva is a bit more reserved - and give kisses and cuddles to the people they know - Heather, Iaia and above all mom, dad and each other! 

Liva & Laia 8 months

ALMOST 8 MONTHS - 26 February 2011

I love Saturdays!! The four of us spent the whole morning in the botanic garden of Barcelona, the weather was great, Liva and Laia were wonderful, Albert and I had a lovely time together as a family. We came home at lunchtime, fed the girls, played with them for an hour, then put them down for their nap. While they were sleeping my mother-in-law came over. We talked until the girls woke up, then she fed them their fruit. We all hung out and played until Albert and I left. We had a great afternoon in the center shopping followed by a wonderful sushi dinner. When we got home and said goodbye to Iaia we looked at the photos from the botanic garden once again, now we're off to bed. Tomorrow is another busy day, I have a meeting in the morning reg. a possible Scandinavian school here in Barcelona, my father-in-law is coming over for lunch and my mother-in-law will join us for the coffee in the afternoon. I love weekends, the only problem is that they're too short!

ALMOST 8 MONTHS - 25 February 2011

What a great day! This morning we went to a playground - well, that was a bit of a hassle at first, the girls were cranky after their morning nap and the elevator still wasn't working. Another fun adventure of carrying stroller, babies, bag, etc down 6-7 floors, at least nobody came out of the elevator and told me it was working just when I had carried everything down this time!
At the playground we met up with other moms from all over the world, there was an American mom who has a daughter only 1 day older than Liva and Laia, and an Italian mom who has twin girls 1 week younger than Liva and Laia. It was great meeting moms with children the same age and sharing stories, experiences, thoughts, worries, etc. If the weather is nice we'll meet up next Friday again.
We were gone most of the morning, 30 minutes after we came home Heather and Jenn came, the girls were thrilled (and so was I). They were here for an hour, Albert came home shortly after they left.
When Albert got home I had to go to a marketing course at the school where I'm employed. A 3-hour course where the whole management team was present. It felt sooooo good doing something else for an afternoon, using different parts of my brain again - or just using my brain again! It's nice to know I can still do other things, and concentrate and focus when I have to.
By the time I came home, Albert had bathed the girls and they were both sound asleep. My little angel girls + my wonderful angel husband = my incredible angel family!!