Leah, Emma and Claire (and Jen and John)

The weather is finally starting to warm up - the extreme cold warning has been lifted. There's hope that I might be able to take the girls out next week in their stroller. We were stuck in the condo from Tuesday night to this morning - I was getting a bit crazy!

The one crib is starting to be a problem. Leah has been waking up in the middle of the night and rolling around. I hear her talking and I know it's just a matter of time before she's steam rolling Emma and then everybody is awake. We had originally thought that we could get away with the playpen and the crib but we decided today to send the couch to Drew's until we move and set up the second crib.

The girls are expanding their vocabulary with G and D. Last night we were watching the Raptors game and all of a sudden Emma yells "Da Da". John was so excited. She has said Da Da before but it's usually something like "Ga Ba Ba Da Da Da" so this was her first official Da Da. I pretty sure (although I have no proof) that if Ma Ma were easier to say then Dads would be Moms and Moms would be Dads….

Emma's diaper rash has cleared up. She has started grinding her teeth. It is a horrible noise and we try and give her something to chew on Hopefully it is a phase.

I am done pumping. I lasted 7 months and 3 weeks…much longer than I think anyone thought I would. It would have been 8 months but I'm getting rid of the pump tomorrow (good riddance!). Part of me wishes I could have gone longer and part of me is so pleased I am done. It has been 16 months since I didn't have to think about everything I ingested. I'm not sure if I am more excited to drink Pepsi or to take medication when I'm not feeling well!

We drove out to the house today. They are making good progress (pictures). We have a roof and all the windows are in. We decided to upgrade our windows and we are very pleased with them. They are finally starting to work on the houses around us so I guess we will have neighbours.
Not much else to report. Condo is still for sale. We have had a few showings. It is a lot of work keeping the place that clean. To give you an idea of just how clean it has to be, today there were people in and John could hear them opening up our cupboards!

Emma's monkey face

Leah relaxing

playing together

My mom left this morning. Her visit seemed to go very quickly and we will all miss her. There's supposed to be another snowstorm tonight so I think hot sunny Florida is a fair trade off for leaving the babies!

I had book club last night. It has been more of a social club and less of a book club for awhile now but I feel silly saying I'm going to a social club. We have decided to do themes (no one consulted me - I'm not very good at themes!) and last night was nostalgia night. We had to bring baby pictures and guess who was who. It was entertaining. I have until June to think of my theme and I will need every minute. I'm thinking it will have to revolve around food. Say chocolate…

The girls are doing well. Emma is cutting at least one (maybe two) of her top teeth. These ones seem to be a bit more sore than the bottom ones and we have had to use the Ambesol. I can't even imagine what they're going to look like with a mouth full of teeth. When I think about it I start to think of braces - maybe it will be subsidized by the time they might need them! Emma seems to get bad diaper rashes with the teething (a common symptom) and it is really raw. She sucks in her breath when you wipe her bum and we've been using lots of Penaten. Hopefully it will just stay red and not break the skin. No sign of Leah's top teeth - in her mouth or on her bum.

Our DVD player isn't working. Pre babies I could have cared less but I have come to rely on Baby Einstein for 30 minutes of quiet time each day. I'm thinking maybe I should give it a good kick - it worked with our computer! We both agree it's pointless to try and get it fixed so I am going to try and make it til the weekend when we can get a new one. I'm scared to let them watch normal kids TV - I know it's sounds silly but the Baby Einstein soothes them and I don't want to get them wound up watching fast paced shows that are geared to 2 year olds.

With Granny

Emma and Granny

Leah and Granny

Having an ok time…

fed up

We’ve been so busy lately I haven’t had time to update.

My mom arrived Wednesday night just in time to be stuck on the runway for 2 hours when the Air Canada ground crew walked off the job. All four of us had gone to the airport to meet her but after 45 minutes it became pretty obvious that it was going to be awhile and John took the girls home to feed them. In the end, a woman on her plane had an asthma attack so they had to bring the plane to the gate and let everybody off.

We have been taking advantage of having someone to watch the girls. I have been out to supper three nights in a row and last night Alicia and I went to see the movie In Good Company. I really enjoyed the movie and I would definitely recommend it. John had poker last night so my mom did bedtime by herself. I got home around 9:30pm and they were both fast asleep.

Today there was a bad snowstorm but we wanted to take my mom to see the house. The roads were terrible and there was a pretty exciting fishtail (complete with screaming!) but we made it. We have 3/4 of a roof! The house is full of snow and it was fun walking through it but very very cold with the wind. This time I remembered to bring the camera but the battery was dead.
Tonight my mom took the four of us out to dinner at Canyon Creek. We used to go there a lot before I got pregnant when we were living the high life! It was delicious.

The girls are doing well and enjoying their Granny. Every day they are getting more interactive and fun. Emma started the “ba ba ba ba ba” today and her little voice is quite similar to Leah’s. All their other sounds (crying, talking etc) have been quite different so I had expected them to sound different. Maybe it will happen once their vocabulary expands a bit. The past few morning they have been waking up very early and we finally realized it was because of the bitterly cold temperatures. John and I were at Home Depot yesterday and we decided to buy a space heater. You can set the temperature and it will turn off and on as needed. They slept much better last night - hopefully they will keep it up. Starting my day at 5:45am when we have nowhere to go is not much fun.

My neck/shoulder is much better. Still a little stiff but no more pain. Hopefully it will heal this time before I have the chance to reaggravate it. I ended up dumping two days worth of milk and the Robaxacet did a number on my supply. I am down to one pump a day and the end is definitely in sight. We are going to Oshawa next weekend and my original plan was to save myself a trip to North York by giving the pump to John’s Aunt Bonnie but that’s only 8 days away and I’m not sure I’m quite ready yet. We’ll see.

Our internet service provider has made this site ad free. If you are still seeing advertising let me know - I would be happy to complain to them.

I had a horrible night last night. I pinched a nerve in my neck/shoulder last week and it has slowly been getting better. Last night I aggravated it and I woke up at 1am in severe pain. I couldn't move without extreme pain (worse than pregnant pain!). I was up all night and I finally caved in and took a Robaxacet. Thankfully they helped because I am going to have to throw all my pumped milk down the drain because I took them. I am down to one pump a day so today will be the girls first day with only formula. I feel a little guilty about that but like the epidural you know when you're ready!

John had a meeting this afternoon but luckily he was able to take the morning off. I had some trouble lifting the girls but I was able to manage for a few hours on my own. Hopefully I will be able to sleep tonight. Again, I am very grateful they are sleeping through the night. I am a member of a twin forum and there are lots of moms who are up with their babies all night and then have to function during the day. I think these posts would take a very grumpy turn if that happened in our house!

Just a quick update since I know some of you get antsy when I don't post for awhile!
We had our Wee Ones Storytime at the library on Tuesday night. There were 6 other children besides the girls there and they ranged in age from about 1 month old to just under 3 years. It was fun just like I expected. The woman who leads it reads a story, sings a song, does something interactive and then repeats the process. The girls were definitely paying attention. My favourite part was that they do all those songs from when you are little that you forget - until you have kids. Our new favourite is head and shoulders knees and toes. The girls think it's funny.

We had record breaking warm weather here today. We were all out on the balcony enjoying 19C - (NINETEEN - no typo!). It was fantastic. I love our balcony and I'm really going to miss it. The temperature has already taken a nose dive and it's supposed to be well under freezing tonight.

Drew came over tonight for dinner and a visit. Leah refused to nap after her 5pm meal and she was quite the little terror. She went right down after her bedtime bottle. I can't say enough how lucky we are that she sleeps well at night. I can't imagine dealing with her at 2 am! They are starting to roll around in their crib a bit more. One of them will have to sleep in the pack n play if they start disturbing each other. We're not setting up the second crib until we move.
This was supposed to be short. I am tired tonight and I want to go to bed. Tomorrow is John's 28th Birthday (yes, I am 6 months older than him). He hasn't told me yet if he wants me to cook or for the four of us to go out for dinner (I am flattered that my cooking is even an option!).

"ba ba ba ba ba ba ba"

Leah has learned how to say "ba" and she can't get enough. She started on Saturday night and hasn't stopped. It's neat to hear her say something - you get an idea of what her little voice is going to sound like!

We are starting to encourage the girls to sit on their own. We don't like to prop them so we pull them up to a seated position, let go, see how long they can sit on their own and then catch them when they fold. Leah is still floppier and she can't sit by herself for very long. Emma is doing really well and can keep her balance by herself for 15 seconds or so.

We had a relaxing weekend. We made our weekly trip to the house and they have started the framing. The basement is now covered by the main floor and the back first floor wall is up. I made a new page with pictures of the progress. They are still only working on two houses so hopefully things will move along quickly.

My Mom is coming from Florida for a week next Wednesday. It will be nice to have her and I'm sure she's going to notice a big change in the babies. They are so interactive now - and they LOVE attention.

Thank you to everyone who has signed the guestbook. We are pleased to have found a way to keep everyone updated and included in the daily lives or our girls (and boring us!). I really enjoy updating this site and I am pleased that some people actually enjoy reading it!

It feels like just yesterday I was writing the 6 month update…

The girls are doing very well. They are quickly developing into two very different little girls.
Emma has two modes…asleep and on the go. She continues to be a great sleeper. When she is awake she is a busy girl. She loves to twist and turn her body and grab whatever she can reach. She is rolling and when awake she rarely stays where you left her. She is full of smiles and giggles and when she gets really excited she flails her arms and legs and it looks like she’s Irish dancing (I know this because my mom made me take lessons when I was little!). She loves to play peekaboo and will pull the blanket over her face and then laugh when you ask where Emma went. She is ‘talking’ more and more and right before she falls asleep she makes these cute little noises. Emma did very well with all the people over Christmas but she still occasionally screams her head off with people. She is eating very well although she has a nasty habit of laughing and blowing raspberries during meals so it can get messy. Emma got her two bottom teeth this month and they are still working their way up.

Leah is a very social baby. She loves to see what’s going on. She is a great night time sleeper but naps can still be a challenge. She loves people and is much more interested in her sister than her sister is in her. She is also started to become attached to her toys. We have a bright blue Pampers Koala that came with some diapers and he is her favourite. She is usually the first to get up in the morning and she just lays in the crib and babbles. She is rolling and seems to prefer being on her belly. Leah is sometimes content to quietly lay and look around. When she is happy she laughs and babbles. She developed this awful high pitched whiny scream this month but we haven’t heard it in a few days now so fingers crossed it was a phase. She is a very efficient eater. Her hair is starting to grow back and we think it might be curly…we’ll have to wait and see. She has her two bottom teeth that you can’t miss.

For most of the month they were going to bed at 10 but it slowly seems to be creeping to 9pm as they get more active. Their daily routine goes something like this (we play it by ear). Naps aren’t scheduled but they usually nap after they eat and every once in awhile they do it at the same time!

8:30am - they wake up and ‘talk’ in their crib
9:30am - breakfast cereal mixed with fruit and 4 oz bottle
1:30pm - lunch veggie mixed with cereal and 4 oz bottle
5:30pm - dinner different veggie mixed with cereal and 4 oz bottle
9 or 10pm - 6 oz bottle then bed.

They are still on the beginner food and so far have had carrots, sweet potatoes, peas, squash, wax beans (under protest from John), bananas and apples. They are both pretty excited about food…especially their bottles. We feed them their solids first then they get the bottle. They get so excited when they see the bottle - they both quiver and giggle, grab the nipple and attack it with their mouth. Once they start to drink they get this glazed look of absolute happiness. Makes us laugh everytime.

Both girls are teething. Their gums are bothering them a bit and they have been a bit fussy at times but nothing like what we were expecting. You can see their gums are red and sore and we just give them some Baby Ambesol and they are fine.

John and I are doing fine. He had a lot of time off this past month which was nice for everyone. I am still pumping but have decided this will be my last month so I am gradually decreasing the frequency. I have mixed emotions about stopping but I’m getting pretty fed up. I am looking forward to being able to exercise again but not to having to watch what I eat!

We signed the girls up for the library reading group. We’re going to go on Tuesday nights so John can come. Our first class is Tuesday - I hope it’s fun.

We put the condo on the market today. I really hope we can sell it without too much stress.

7 months

2 smiling babies - a hard picture to get!

Getting big

Emma and Frosty

Leah and Frosty

Emma - 7 months

Leah - 7 months

We had a fun New Year's. It was the first time we had all gotten together in a long time (besides weddings) and it was a fun night. It's amusing how quickly you can slip back into old times - once the babies went to bed we could have been back at school (minus the living conditions and the good food!). The babies went down at 10pm and we were successful at getting them into their car seats and home to bed without them waking up. They slept until 9am New Year's Day.

We had a relaxing weekend. You can't sleep in with the girls and it took a couple of days to recover from being out so late. John was back at work today and the day was very long. Thankfully it was nice outside so I loaded the girls up in their new stroller and headed over to the mall. John was right - I felt like the travelling circus. In the old stroller the babies faced me and it wasn't obvious unless you really looked that there were two of them. The new stroller had them out in front on display - so people have lots of time to process before they get close enough. My favourite are the people who gasp and 'discreetly' grab the person they're with to look. I have mastered the art of not making eye contact and pretending I'm deaf! If people ask me questions I will answer - there were no shortage of those people today.

I've been thinking about signing up for some sort of activity with the babies. Emma continues to play strange and now that the holidays are over I think it would be good for her to be around new people more often. There is a reading group at the library or swimming. I know if I had one baby I would be more active with that type of stuff but I'm sure I can do the library myself - at least until they can crawl!

Leah, Steve and Emma

Party girl Leah

Coby, Jeff and John

Alicia, me, Carrie, Sylvia and Aimee

Twin tip - get a king size bed (Emma)