Coughing

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Rhinomer!Yesterday and today the little one had a bad cold and this affected us dearly. Drinking his milk posed a problem because this nose was so blocked up that he could not drink and breath at the same time. The entire time he was coughing and he didn’t sleep for even a second the entire night. The immediate result was that we also did not sleep during the night. The poor boy, but it didn’t seem to bother him that much. A few times, just after a cough that sounded horrible, and sounded like the worst yet, a beautiful smile appeared on his little face.

The solution we are trying now is Rhinomer. A salt solution that we spray directly in his nose. Alex does not like it at all, but it works very well to get his some temporary relief.

High rent

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For almost four years we have been renting our little apartment in the middle of the city, in a very green area. The area is called ‘Ciudad Jardin‘, which means city garden.

Our problem is that there is another apartment for rent in our block. According to the website where the apartment is advertised the rent they ask is higher than ours, but we overheard a salesperson talking to potential renters, and this salesperson commented that there was space to negotiate and they could drop the rent for the apartment to 100 euro less. A bit strange to have these negotiations out loud when other renters are nearby, but we’ll just have to profit from this information.

We never had problems with our rent, but now that we know there is room to negotiate, of course we also want a lower rent! Even more so because we are exemplary renters and we made a lot of improvements to our apartment. We painted, repaired and improved. We even addressed the deterioration of the neighborhood and made the area a better place to stay.

Lets see if we can get a new lower rent, and if I can convince Ana to start the negotiations. Due to the crisis rents have dropped everywhere, except for us. We are even renting two apartments now. One for us and one nearby for Ana’s parents. There must be room for negotiation!

Revenge is sweet

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Screwdriver under the hood!I was just called by the mechanic that yesterday charged me two hours for one hour of work. As it seems he is missing some tool, and he presumes the tool is located under the hood of our car. Well, that’s a coincidence.

The mechanic even claimed that I should leave my job and go home to check the car, get to tool, and bring it by his garage. I think he must have been on some kind of mind altering chemical to make these pretty outrageous demands.

We made the deal that this afternoon I would look for his tool and afterwards we will see.

  • Phone inquiry: Free
  • Search: Half hour (15 euro)
  • Return product: Half hour, plus gas and deduction costs car
  • Rounded up: 40 euro

I’m planing to tell him to come and get his tool, or he can wait until I pass by when I’m in the neighborhood.

Result: I am to good for this world. In the end we had to be in the neighborhood, van I delivered the screwdriver to his porch. Still, I managed to secure a discount for the next job. Now I only hope he will remember about this discount, but might he forget I still have the photo proof.

Garage

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Taller Peru!Since we are living in Las Palmas we take our car on a regular basis to the same garage ‘Taller Peru’. Thanks to our old seat we provide our mechanic with a steady flow of jobs. The weird thing is that is seems like our car has a completely new problem almost every month. In recent months we experienced:

The most recent problem with the windscreen wipers was solved quickly and for the nice round amount of 80 euros. The weird thing was the invoice. We needed to pay 2 hours of work (30 euros an hour) plus some small parts like oil and rubbers. Only the car had been in the garage only a single hour! Maybe we need to find us a different garage.

Sinterklaas

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Sinterklaas!Finally, the perfect evening has arrived. It is our first traditional Dutch Sinterklaas evening that we celebrate with Alex. Although Alex does not yet seem te realise what is going on. This way it’s a good general rehearsal where we can figure out what areas we are lacking in order to improve in the coming years.

The Sint has already been notified that Alex has been a very good boy this year. The presents have been flown in from Holland, and the typical music (including karaoke versions) is ready. The carrot Alex has left for the horse in his shoe was eaten so all looks well. The only thing we are missing is a cloth bag and the candies to throw around, but for this I will try and find some alternative.

Tonight we sing together and then we open the presents. The little one does not yet show any interest in toys, but maybe he will enjoy the unwrapping.

The shoe is set

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First set shoe!I don’t think Alex will realize it, but his shoe is set and it contains a nice big carrot. The only attention point is probably the distance from Holland, but Alex is hopeful that the Sint will make a detour and also provide half-dutch children with a present.

Alex has been a good boy, that’s for sure and the horse on which the Sint rides will surely like the carrot because it is a nice Canarian one.

Alex smiles

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Alex smiles!
Alex smiles again, because after a week his mother has returned home. Ofcourse he also smiled when I was taking care of him this last week, but seeing his mother again clearly did him a lot of good.

Another weekend fulltime parent

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Ana was released from the hospital with a big stack of medicines and a strict diet that will for sure result in quite some weight loss. She could go home to calm down and relax. Not following the diet will directly result is a horrific pain in her bile so she is very motivated. With the medicines it should be enough to stabilize her body so that her swollen up bile can return to a size that can be operated.

A few days things went well, but alas. Today Ana was struck by a high fever, that went towards the 39 degrees and that resulted in a quick trip to the first aid where Ana was quickly admitted to a hospital bed. Right now they are trying a different antibiotic which make breath feeding impossible.

A sad result, but there is nothing we can do about it. We are happy that the strong pains no longer appear. Whats left for me is being full time parent for the weekend, and hope everything will improve for Ana.

Hand-eye coordination

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Alex grabs - Part 1!
A few days ago we celebrated Alex’ third month. These were three months where Alex has changed a lot. He is growing impressively fast and he is already aware of things near him.

Alex grabs - Part 2!
Since a couple of days Alex is even capable of grabbing a little bear that is hanging near him in the air. He grabs the little bear and moves it to his mouth in order to give it a good licking.

Alex grabs - Part 3!
As fresh new parents we are of course very proud.

Gallstone

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In the hospital!The past weekend was pretty stressful. Ana has been suffering from a strong pain in her back for a while. The pain seemed to be caused by stones in her bile. After her last medical examination she was immediately hospitalized and connected to a bag of antibiotics. She even gets her food from an IV.

Last week I was a full time father. With a little baby and my wife in the hospital I had my hands full. Ana is placed in the department for infectious diseases, so little Alex cannot come by and visit. This makes it very hard for me to pay Ana a visit, resulting in quite a bad situation.

We expect that Monday and will be send home. Probably with some special diet where she will need to avoid everything containing fat. Afterwards she will need to make an appointment for an operation where they will probably remove the entire organ. Tomorrow we hope to know more about Ana’s treatment.