Sunday, February 24, 2008

Shear Madness

Wish I could take credit for that lovely pun of a post title, but I stole it from the title of an interactive whodunit play that takes place in a salon. I know, my credibility diminishes with each sentence…

Credible or not, I share the following photos of Oli shaving his head with our new clippers this weekend:






Monday, February 18, 2008

Happy birthday, kid

Was in England for a while, originally for Lily's big second birthday, and later, we stayed on for fun. We kind of missed blogging about Lily's birthday (Feb 2 - Same as Jay and my dead family cat Asha) due to these travels and the camera battery dying before we could upload photo evidence of its celebration, but now, we make up for it.

Photos include Lily sliding down the stairs on a crib/cot mattress with cousins Hannah and Dylan, the party itself, the cat cake Yaya Lisa (as Lily now calls her) made, and general good times. Oli says a video is coming.

Watching some old videos last month (remember all those head-bashing falls that used to entertain you sick people???), it struck me that Lily is really no longer a baby and will never be a baby again. We made it through all those things that made us crazy (but not quite as crazy as a two-year-old makes us) and all of the sudden, she's a kid bossing us around ('Mommy, play!' - 'Daddy, make a tower!' - 'Melk, melk, melk!'). Actually, what we really made it through was figuring out what kinds of parents we are and would like to be, what is worth freaking out about and what isn't, how to accept advice and also to trust that we know Lily well enough to ignore advice at other times, and overall, that we're good parents, so there!

You better thank us for all this later, Lily. Happy birthday.






Sunday, February 17, 2008

Lily's new room

Kevin Rooney has left us for Madrid for a few days to stay with his friend Natalia and her family in a town outside the city, and then will be off to India for a few months on the last leg of his year-long travels.

With his depature, a room opened up and Lily moved into her big-girl bed. You will note that it is on the floor, which works out quite well. Why buy a bed frame just so you will then have to buy a guard rail? With the move to the new room, sleep patterns have greatly improved. There was only one major wake-up the first night and after being reassured that mom and dad loved her and being told how Bozwell Bear used to sleep in mom's bed when she was a kid, she gave a look that said, 'Ah, so you haven't put me in here because you hate me,' and fell deep asleep until 9am (!!!). No trouble napping yesterday, no trouble going to bed last night and we all got to sleep through the night for the first time in a loooong time.

Other features of the room: Thomas the Tank Engine and friends posters; a tent that doubles as a home for babies, baby beds, and a small kitchen set; a small guitar left by K Roon, and a cool chair given to Lily by friends Antony and Marta. In the tent photos, Lily is throwing a minor tantrum because she wants to hold the camera. I love the feet kicking in the last one.




Friday, February 15, 2008

Floating

Back from England. Getting back into the groove here in Barcelona. Feeling a bit out of touch with reality....

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Lily has entered the infamous terrible twos. Tantrums. Not sleeping well. Having tantrums while not sleeping well. We assume some of this has to do with the amount of travel we've done and that our home probably doesn't feel like our home....it sure doesn't for me yet. Perhaps when we have more of a life here, it will be easier for her to be settled.

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On the other hand, she's a lot of fun now in her big kidness. She talks quite a bit and comes up with funny things she likes to say to be silly. For example, she said 'Superman' the other day and I was surprised because I didn't know she knew him. So I repeated 'Superman?!' She replied, 'Superfly!' giggling like a maniac, and after I giggled and repeated her funny word, she proceeded to shout out 'Superfly' from time to time throughout the day just so we could both have a laugh.

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Have learned that old lady living in flat that butts up to ours is C-R-A-Z-Y....threatening to call the police because Lily cries in the night....banging on our walls when Lily cries......We don't ever really hear other people, so we didn't really know she could hear Lily, and it's not like Lily has never cried before now. Working on trying to be diplomatic......but really just want to say 'que te cagues...,' buy some damn earplugs like a normal human being. Now every time Lily cries I'm even more stressed because I know psycho is listening and waiting.

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Need to get a non-parent life here. Thinking about taking a business Spanish course but not sure if it's worth the expense. Perhaps should just apply to some jobs and if my work Spanish isn't good enough, take a course at that point. All of this looking up information and going to talk to people requires time, though......

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

I'm in England

And so is Lily.

Very quickly before Lily wakes up from her nap:

We were here for a long weekend to celebrate Lil's birthday with English family and friends. It was fun and at the end we were exhausted after three weeks in the US for Christmas, two whirlwind weeks back in BCN, and a weekend here. So Lily and I decided to stay on for another week and a half while I'm still unemployed and recover!

While Ray and Lisa have been at work, we've plodded through the English countryside in Lily's new Wellingtons and rain coat (thanks Nana Lisa!), gotten over our fear of crossing the road in this country, hiked over to the next town to buy thank-you notes and hot chocolate and all-over revived ourselves!

Now we're ready for lots of visiting:
* Friend Mal and baby Aldous at the London Zoo tomorrow
* Me sans Lily to see Megan and Marty and some DJ on Friday
* The McAndrews and little Delia on Tuesday
* As well as a visit here at home from cousin Hannah over the weekend while her parents continue to get used to new bundle Baby Sam

Lily's just woken up, so more later!