Lately it has been on my mind a lot to update this blog more often. I am really lousy at keeping in touch with people via email, and it has occurred to me that I could use this blog to update friends and family on what is happening in our little world. I could write everything that is happening here and people could read it instead of me sending loads of individual emails out!
So, what is happening over here?
Well, we bought a house in April, moved in on the 14th of May. It is a lovely little wooden house on the outskirts of Oslo. On the wrong side of town! Where we could afford to buy (would have cost twice as much to buy a property on the "right" side of town - the west side). Anyways its a 5 bedroom house with a nice little yard, beautiful big deck that gets the sun almost all day, just perfect for our little family! It is right on the edge of the forest, so we take the kids out walking in the woods every day instead of walking through the city, which I like much better, safer, quieter, no pollution, no beer bottles and cigarette butts for my curious little 2 year old to try and pick up! Plus Torben hates sitting in the pram, he wants to run around, which I find very stressful in the city as I am worried 1. that he will run into traffic and get killed, and 2. that he might get kidnapped (Carl and I are both totally paranoid). And the house is a 12 minute bike ride from Carls work (though he is home on parental leave at the moment while I go to school).
So, I am studying. Which is great, I am finally out of the house and doing something that requires my brain! Don´t get me wrong, I do love my babies and I love looking after them, but after being home for 3 years, not working or studying, I was starting to go a little crazy. I am really enjoying studying and Carl is really enjoying the break from work, and being home looking after the babies. I am studying at Videregående school, which is pre-university stuff. I don´t really need to be taking any of the courses that I am right now (my high school graduation certificate from Canada is the equivalent of a Norwegian Videregående education), but it is a good opportunity to improve my Norwegian, get higher grades (which will give me a better chance of getting into a study program later), and also gives Carl the opportunity to take leave from work, which is fully paid as long as I am studying or working full time. I am taking Norwegian, Math and Science. The Math and Science classes are so easy its ridiculous. The Norwegian is a bit tougher, not because of the assignments we get given but because of the language. It has been really good for helping my written and spoken Norwegian. I go to class every day, I usually bike in, 11km, which takes a half hour (compared to an hour on the bus/train/bus). And I love that too! I love biking, as most people who know me realize...
I don´t know what I will do after this semestre studying. The Videregående program is 6 basic classes (Norwegian, English, History, Society, Math, and Science), of which I am doing 3 this semestre. Carl has to go back to work in January, so I won´t be able to continue studying during the day next year, but I would like to take one or two classes in the afternoon or evening. There are more classes that I can take on top of the 6 basic ones, there are higher level Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Biology that I would like to take, so I think I will study part time taking these courses over the next few years, while I decide what I would like to study later. I would like to study Medicine, but the grade cut off is extremely high, and it is very hard to get in. So we´ll see....
Torben is really enjoying having his dad home with him, and now it is all about Dada, not Mama! Dada has to put him in his chair, Dada has to put him to bed, Dada has to cuddle him when he´s hurt himself. I am really happy for Carl that he is getting to bond more with his babies, he has been working more than full time since we moved to Norway (when I was 5 months pregnant with Torben), and he has been travelling a lot with work to China, Korea, Singapore, France, Germany, England, and around Norway, so he has missed a lot of the last few years.
Carl is feeling very restless though, he isn´t so happy about the idea of going back to Siemens in January to do what he has been the last 2 years. If he keeps doing what he has been, he will be travelling a lot, which he doesn´t want to do (he misses the babies and they miss him. Plus I find it really hard being on my own for long periods of time with two littlies!). On the other hand, if he doesn´t travel, the work in the office is really boring and he´d hate that. So we´re looking at other options for him working. One option is a management position at work that he was told he would be highly recommended for. Another option at Siemens is a position opening up in Brazil that would be for 1 year. We are a little torn on that one, as it would be very interesting to live in Brazil for a year, but our impression is that the crime rate is very high and we are worried about our personal security (again, totally paranoid about the kids being kidnapped). Also, I have read that the pollution in the cities is very bad, and we are so used to fresh clean air here! And not having to lock out front door when we leave! Anyways, so we´ll see. We could always go, try it out, and leave if it freaks us out too much. It would only be for a year anyways. Another option that Carl is thinking about is to quit Siemens and get a job teaching at a Videregående school. A friend and former colleague of his from Siemens is doing this now, working less hours and earning more money, and enjoying the work much more. So Carl is keen to try that, but it is contract work and not necessarily reliable, which is ab it of a worry when we have a 3.5 million kroner mortgage to pay off! He could always get another job engineering though..
Anyways enough about that. What about the babies... Ursa is not quite crawling, she drags herself around on her tummy instead. She can get going pretty quick. She chases Torben around most of the day, driving him nuts by taking whatever toy it is he is playing with. And when he moves on to something else, she goes after him and takes that too. She loves him, it is so sweet to watch, she tries so hard to get his attention and play with him. She squeaks and squeals trying to bait him into doing it back at her, and when he responds by squealing or laughing, she cracks up giggling. It is really cute to watch. And it keeps them both busy!
Torben learns new words every day. Yesterday he learned Lollipop from his Very Hungry Caterpillar book, and he has been saying it all day. Also Pickle. He is also putting words together now, he says Mama Shoes, Torben Truck, Baby Wah, and many more. He knows that baby (Ursa) says Wah a lot, so he says Baby Wah whenever he hears her crying. A couple days ago he burned his mouth on his porridge at breakfast (we had put it out of his reach but he stood up on his chair and pulled it towards himself and started eating it before it had a chance to cool down), and he started crying. He stopped after 30 seconds or a minute and looked at me and said Torben Wah! Which I thought was very clever considering he´s´nót even two yet. Carl and I were both totally amazed that he was that self-aware already.
And what are the little ones doing as I write? Torben is playing in the sink with an assortment of cups and saucers and Ursa is sitting in her high chair watching him and the washing machine, which is next to the sink. She loves watching the washing spin round and round (its a front-loader with a glass door). Dinner is in the oven (curry chicken with rice pilaf), so I get a minute to myself to finish writing this (I started while they were napping). Hopefully I will be able to keep on track of writing a bit more often!
