Leah, Emma and Claire (and Jen and John)

Everyone is still sleeping 6 hours at night! Emma always seems to wake up first and for the most part we have to get Leah up. It's very tempting just to let her sleep to see how long she'll go but it's easier if the girls are on the same schedule. If they are going to sleep through the night they are going to do it together.

Everyday we find some reason to get the girls out of the house. Even if it's just walking over to the mall or the park. Today my mom, John and I took the girls down to Port Credit and walked along Lake Ontario. It was a hot and muggy day and really the first day that really felt like summer to me. I think I'm the only person I know who isn't upset about the cool summer we've been having this year. We have made plans with John's family to rent a cottage at the end of August so hopefully it will be warm by then.

No new pictures - I forgot the camera today.

Today was my original due date. All of the girls developmental milestones (sitting up, crawling, walking etc) will be measured from today and not their actual birth date. This adjusted age will go on until they are 2 years old, the age at which they have caught up to full term babies.

We sure hope it doesn't take 6 more weeks for them to smile!

John is back to work on Monday so we are trying to figure out a routine. Last night I fed the girls (Leah at 9:30pm and Emma at 10pm) and then we swaddled them up and put them to bed in their room. John and I went to bed at 11 and fully expected to be woken up around 2am - in fact we were bartering as to who would do the feed. At 4am I woke up and looked at the clock - my heart pretty much stopped. I woke up John and asked if I had somehow slept through the crying and he said that he hadn't fed them. Convinced there was something wrong, I rushed into their room and not wanting to take any chances I felt both their foreheads rather than calmly listening for breathing. Of course I woke them both up which meant both John and I had to do the feed but we were both very happy they had gone 6 hours without a peep. They both went back to sleep and didn't get up til 10am…two 6 hour stretches in a row!

Fingers crossed for tonight!

John is back to work on Monday so we are trying to figure out a routine.Last night I fed the girls (Leah at 9:30pm and Emma at 10pm) and then we swaddled them up and put them to bed in their room. John and I went to bed at 11 and fully expected to be woken up around 2am - in fact we were bartering as to who would do the feed. At 4am I woke up and looked at the clock - my heart pretty much stopped. I woke up John and asked if I had somehow slept through the crying and he said that he hadn’t fed them. Convinced there was something wrong, I rushed into their room and not wanting to take any chances I felt both their foreheads rather than calmly listening for breathing. Of course I woke them both up which meant both John and I had to do the feed but we were both very happy they had gone 6 hours without a peep. They both went back to sleep and didn’t get up til 10am…two 6 hour stretches in a row!

Fingers crossed for tonight!

It’s hard to believe that Emma and Leah are six weeks old today. They had an appointment with Dr. Govan today and they are both doing very well. Leah weighed in at 6lbs 7ozs and Emma is now 5lbs 11ozs. The doctor was very impressed that I am able to keep up with feeding two babies and it eased my mind a bit since I always worry if they are getting enough.

We took the girls to the mall and Chapters today and they were very good. I keep on reading about this Baby Whisperer book that is supposed to help you get in tune with your baby with a big focus on sleeping habits. I had a look at it today and seeing as the girls are doing so well with their sleeping (5.5 hours last night for Emma!) I thought I would wait rather than mess with what might be a good thing.

We were also in Old Navy and they have so many cute little outfits but they are all way to big. Shopping usually isn’t my thing but I could see the fear in John’s eyes when we passed the cute clothes and I kept on saying - wouldn’t they look cute in that!

First of all, John wants me to take back the well rested comment from the last post…apparently 5 hours of sleep a night does not mean well rested! I guess I was confusing not totally exhausted with well rested…

We had a nice visit over the past few days with Auntie Margaret and Duane. They stopped over on their way back to Vancouver so they could spend some time with the girls. It was nice for them to meet their one and only Aunt (yes seeing as they are so youthful, I'm sure none of you caught on to the fact that Tina and Bonnie are actually their Great Aunts!) and I think Margaret enjoyed herself after getting over the shock of seeing me with two babies. It seems like just yesterday she was here for the wedding!

Emma and Leah are both doing well. Leah is starting to outgrow the preemie clothes and has moved on to the newborn. She has also started using the newborn diapers. They both have alot more control of their neck and they are definitely getting stronger. I think Emma has caught on to Leah and how her crying gets her fed first. There have been a few occasions over the past couple of days where we have been faced with two screaming hungry babies. I think it's pretty amusing - we'll see how I feel about it when John goes back to work!

Emma's first dance

Emma waking up

Auntie Margaret and Emma

Sisters (I need a tan!)

Cheeky Emma

Leah

The girls continue to go 4 hours between feeds during the day. At night, they sometimes can go 5 hours which is wonderful for sleeping. They are also very good at staying in sync with each other and we rarely have to wake either of them to feed. We are all feeling rather well rested these days and fingers crossed the girls continue their good sleeping habits.

Last night Aunt Tina came to visit. She bought the girls some big girl outfits (complete with the sunglasses!) and a baby monitor! I was particularly excited about the baby monitor because I have been sleeping on the couch in the girls room. I was too nervous to use it last night but this morning after their 7am feed I turned it on, closed the door and went to bed. Sure enough at 11am on the dot Leah started screaming (I call her demando!!).

Naptime

John calls Emma little Yoda

“We don’t care that Papa bought us baseball gloves…”

Aunt Tina (Leah righ)

Morning Nap 2 - face to face (Emma left)

So this morning it had been 5 days since Emma last pooped. We were both getting a bit concerned seeing as the doctor said to give her brown sugar and water and if after a few days that didn't work to get infant glycerin suppositories. We were both really hoping we could get by with option A!

She didn't seem to be in any obvious discomfort but there was alot of grunting going on and she is usually so peaceful. So this afternoon we made the trip to the drugstore and bought the suppositories. When we got home we both stood over her trying to figure out exactly how we were going to execute option B…and decided that we could wait another day. Well it was just the incentive she needed because when I next changed her it was my turn to yell "SHE POOPED!!"

Not much else to report. We try and take the girls out once a day to get some fresh air. Everybody is intrigued by twins and sometimes it's hard to get anywhere without being stopped. We need a sign for the stroller "Yes, they are twins. Girls. Fraternal. 5 weeks. Big one is Leah - small one is Emma". I can only imagine what it's going to be like once they are strong enough to go to the mall!

We took the girls to visit their Great Grandpa Holmes in Oshawa last night. Both girls were on their best behaviour and they were especially excited to see Auntie Bonnie again. We are having a bit of a problem going number two these days…Leah hadn't gone since Wednesday and we were getting a bit concerned. So in the middle of dinner she started to fuss and John went over to check on her. All of a sudden he yelled "SHE POOPED!!". It was pretty funny - who would have thought a month ago that poop would excite us. We're still waiting for Emma…

Nana has gone back to Windsor after helping us out for a few days. We have a few days to fend for ourselves before Auntie Margaret arrives on Thursday.

Emma loves the bath

Mom and Leah, Dad and Emma

"Oh Auntie Bonnie I've missed you so much. Rumour has it mom doesn't do nails…"

Great Grandpa and tiny Emma

Great Grandpa and Leah

Leah and Emma are one month old!

We are all still doing fine. Uncle Drew came for a visit on Tuesday night. We put him right to work and Emma pooped on him while he was changing her diaper. Not to be outdone by her sister, Leah pooped in the tub while he was bathing her (yes - he was in the tub with her!). It’s all on video so there will be no denying it!

Nana and Papa Holmes stayed with us on Tuesday night and Nana just couldn’t go back to Windsor on Wednesday so she is helping us out with the girls. We have been spoiled with both our moms cooking and help with the girls.

Today we took the girls for their first walk. Leah screamed in the elevator but once the stroller got moving she settled down. It was my first trip back to the park since the wheelchair and it was so much fun to be walking on my own and pushing a stroller!

Here are the pictures I know you all want to see…I wonder if anyone even reads what I write

Officially Unkie Drew

Nana and Emma, Papa and Leah

Leah

Emma

Proud Daddy

Proud Mommy (so much better than big momma!)