Leah, Emma and Claire (and Jen and John)

Last Tuesday we had our frame walk. Everything is looking really good and they are ready to insulate and drywall. We ended up adding sound insulation on the majority of the interior walls and around the plumbing pipes. With all the insulation, you get a really good idea of what all the rooms are going to be like. It's starting to get very exciting.

On Thursday night my cousin Kathleen and her boyfriend Mark came for a visit. They are from Ottawa and they don't see the babies (or us!) that often so it was nice to be able to see them. The girls were terrible - I think the worst they've ever been since we got over the newborn stage. We ended up feeding them early and putting them to bed.

We had a nice weekend. John's parents were in the Dominican Republic for a week and they stopped in on their way home on Saturday. They had a nice visit with the babies and then we took them out to see the house. Saturday night John played poker and Alicia and Carrie came over to keep me and the girls company. Yesterday we went grocery shopping and just relaxed.
The girls are doing well. Leah has mastered the commando crawl and she goes pretty much wherever she wants. She's not very quick yet but you have to watch her. Emma is dragging herself across the floor as well but she's not quite as curious as Leah so she doesn't get as far. They have both started taking a big interest in all things not baby related. They love the remote, the phone, socks, measuring spoons and dvds. If you line them up and put the remote about 6 ft away they will race for it - it's pretty cute.

They seem to be going through a bit of a transition with their sleep. Somedays they have started having two naps rather than three. For awhile we were having trouble getting Leah to go to bed. She would have her bottle and still be bright eyed and wanting to play. I think we have gotten into the habit of always feeding them at the same time but I think Emma gets more tired at night. The last couple of nights we have held off feeding Leah and she has gone right to sleep.

Bottle time is so easy now!

The changes on the house are getting more and more subtle. It looks like the electrical, plumbing and heating work is all done. We will have our frame walk in the next few days and then I'm sure the pace will pick up when they start insulating, drywalling and getting it bricked. According to the production timeline, the framewalk is 82 days from closing. That seems so close!

Yesterday we went to Guelph. Carrie had her baby shower and while I was there John went over to Drew's and installed our new carseats. While the girls aren't anywhere near the weight restriction on the infant carriers, they were getting too long and it wasn't safe. It's funny because after all the things that could have got us overwhelmed with having twins, this is really the first thing that seems major to us. The infant carriers were just so easy…they kept them warm and sleeping and in a pinch it only required a bit of muscle to get them somewhere that wasn't stroller friendly. They also provided the perfect feeding chair or napping chair when we were out. To say life without them is going to be a challenge is an understatement! I'm sure I will have plenty of posts complaining about it in the coming weeks while we adjust. I know it will be easier when we have the house and we don't need the stroller just to get them inside.

Enough of the pity party! Leah is starting to "crawl"!! She drags herself across the floor with her elbows. She's not very quick but it won't be long before she figures out the purpose of her knees. I don't think Emma is far behind. You can really see now how if one does something the other is likely to hurry along to do it too.

We have our NICU 8 month adjusted age appointment coming up in a few weeks. Leah is still very floppy and I wonder what they're going to say. She is getting better at sitting but she doesn't like it. As soon as you sit her up she puts her arms out and goes on her belly so she can roll around. Leah is very go go go! I have no idea what they'll say but John has made me promise I won't worry about it seeing as she is doing everything she should be doing and is not some little weakling! Emma is a lot more flexible than she used to be so hopefully they will be pleased with her progress.

We got 10cms of snow last night so we are trapped. The stroller is great but it has 10 little wheels so it's not really snow friendly.

Naptime

Emma doing carseat test - June 28

Emma too big for carseat - Feb 19

Leah doing carseat test - June 28

Leah too big for carseat - Feb 19

Finally Friday. For some reason this week seemed very long. We actually managed to get out to the mall and the grocery store which was a nice change. The mall was interesting - I knew from watching TV that the 80s are back but seeing all the clothes in the mall made me laugh. I am so happy the girls aren't old enough to be begging us to waste our money on some hot pink pants or jelly shoes.

The babies are doing really well. They are very happy these days and they are starting to really like each other. It's so cute just to watch them laugh at each other while they play with the same toy. Emma has started to cry sometimes when she loses sight of us. Leah has taken a liking to the lamb we got while I was pregnant and we decided it was time to get Emma a cute little friend to keep her company when she was feeling lonely. We got her a duck from Pottery Barn Kids on the weekend and we give it to her whenever she's in the crib. Driving back from Pottery Barn, we had our first real parenting discussion. You wonder if it's ok to encourage an attachment to a toy or if you should encourage independance. We both decided that we wanted her to have her own special thing - just like her sister.

They are both getting very good at pivoting around on their bellies. If you put something they really really want (like the remote) just out of reach they can shimmy forward. I have no idea when they will crawl but I will openly admit that I'm scared!

The other great thing that they are doing now is holding their own bottles. We are so happy about this. When it's bottle time I just put them in their baby chairs and hand them the bottle. They can do the whole thing by themselves now. Sitting on the couch supervising sure beats sitting on the floor holding bottles for the two of them!

John and I are both doing well. He is finding the commute to Markham a bit tedious but it helps that it is only temporary. We are both very relieved that the condo is sold and now we can focus on being excited about moving. We'll be going out to Oakville tomorrow and I'll update the progress.

We just got the call. Condo is sold!!!

We have accepted an offer on the condo!! We're not going to get all excited and let dust settle on the baseboards until all the legalities are done but it's looking promising. What a relief it will be to have the condo sold - the prospect of having two mortgages is just a bit stressful. John thinks I'm nuts but I'm pretty happy with the people who bought it. I met them twice and I think they will take good care of our first home. I am really going to miss the condo and it helps to think that it will be treated well.

Last night we had "Mattamy University". It was an presentation put together by the builder for all the people in our phase. They had the construction teams there and they went over the entire process of building, moving in, and maintaining your home. It was really informative and we got a chance to meet some of our new neighbours. We talked to the site supervisor for our house and he doesn't forsee any delays - we will be the first people moving in! We are going to need blinds!!! The elementary school planned for a few blocks away is still going to happen and they assured me it would be ready in 4 years - most likely a lot sooner.

Drew watched the girls while we were out. They're getting sneaky and both of them wanted to play rather than go to bed. I forgot to tell him the once you're in the crib you're not coming out rule so poor Drew took turns trying to convince each of them that the party was over and it was time to go to bed.

Leah has a bad diaper rash (teeth??) and she screams when you wipe it. It is awful - I haven't heard her cry like that since she was in the NICU and they had to change the feeding tube going down her nose.

Eight months old today. They were only in my belly for eight months.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before but when I was pregnant I was really hoping that the girls weren’t identical. It went so far as me having nightmares about mixing them up. Not only are they not identical in looks but they have very different personalities.

There were a few changes this month. I think the biggest one for us is that they shifted their bedtime. Their schedule now goes something like this…

7:30am Leah wakes up and starts talking/rolling
7:45am Leah wakes Emma up
8:00am Breakfast - 4 oz bottle each and then they split half a jar of fruit with cereal mixed in
10:00am Nap (usually together!)12:00pm Lunch - 4 oz bottle each and then they split half a jar of veggies with cereal mixed in
2:00pm Nap (again - together!)
4:00pm Dinner - 4 oz bottle each and then they split half a jar of veggies with cereal mixed in
6:00 some nights if they’re fussy they’ll get some custard with cerealThey get a bath every second night. Sometimes the have a nap around this time.
8:30pm 6oz bottle then bed

This schedule is actually better. I have to do the three solid meals myself but the evenings are much more relaxing. I just have to go to bed early or else I am very tired. They are still in the same crib but I don’t think it will be long before we separate them.

They are eating pretty much all the age appropriate foods. They’ll eat everything except yellow beans. Their favourites are squash, sweet potatoes and pears. We gave them baby cookies the other night…they seem to like it but it is such a mess. They turn to mush with drool and then the girls slam them on the tray and they disintegrate. John and I are not big fans of baby cookies - we don’t need any more things to clean! We haven’t weighed them in a couple of weeks but my guess is that they’re both around 16lbs. Emma is still heavier than Leah.

We had some sleeping issues this month. For the first time ever John and I had to deal with a wide awake baby (Leah) at 3am. It was not fun and I don’t know how some parents do it night after night. Thankfully it only happened the one night. We got them a space heater this month and they don’t wake up cold anymore.

The other big change was that the girls are mobile. Gone are the days of them lying on our bed surrounded by pillows. They are just too good at rolling to take the chance. No crawling yet - I’m sure one day it will just happen.

Leah is our little social butterfly. Once she gets to know you (this takes about a minute) she will smile and talk away to you. She loves to touch new things and she is very gentle. Rather than grabbing everything she will gently pat it. Leah has mastered rolling and she is very quick. She can pivot all around so she can get to wherever she wants. She is still very floppy and she can sit unassisted for just a few seconds before she topples. Leah doesn’t seem to need as much sleep as her sister. She likes waking up early and trying her hardest to wake everybody else up. She has started to form an attachment with a lamb stuffed animal that John called Lamb Chop (I will be leaving the explaining of that one up to him!).

Emma is more reserved around new people. It takes awhile for her to warm up but then she’s also very social. Emma is a grabber. When she sees what she wants (this includes the Jackson’s ear) she goes for it. She continues to be a great sleeper - we will put her to bed wide awake and 2 minutes later she’s down for the count. Emma is still very strong and she can sit unassisted for long periods of time. She is good at rolling but not quite as agile as her sister. Emma got two more teeth this month. Her front left tooth and the one beside it. It’s pretty funny looking in a cute way (alright it’s funny looking but she’s my daughter and I have to say she’s cute!!)

Leah trying out the cookie…it went downhill from here

Emma using her chompers

Leah sitting (in pillowland)

Emma sitting

Emma and Leah - 8 months

Emma - 8 months

Leah - 8 months

We are so busy lately.

John's Dad and Drew came over on Wednesday for dinner and to pick up the couch. The babies room looks HUGE without it and we decided not to set up the crib seeing as we were having an Open House.

On Friday Jeff and Alicia came over for homemade pizza (one of the few meals I am prepared to serve the gourmet chefs!). Alicia only has 9 weeks left of work before her due date. Time flies. Yesterday we had an open house so the morning was spent cleaning (all we do lately is clean) and then we had to find things to do from 1-4pm. We went out to Oakville and checked out the house. We now have shingles and some plumbing and heating. We checked out our new neighbourhood Walmart and then sat and read books in Chapters. The Open House went ok. We had 11 people through - only 2 nosy neighbours. We were only home long enough to feed the girls and then we went to Troy and Jessica's for dinner. Their daughter Sarah is a year older than the girls and go go go - and I think I'm tired now!

Today John and Jeff went to the Raptors game and I was all set for a peaceful afternoon but as I've learned there is no peace when trying to sell the condo. We had two people come see it today - at least we hadn't been home long enought to mess it up so there was minimal cleaning. Tonight we went over to Jeff's parents to watch the Superbowl. They have a flat screen tv with the American HD feed. Even I want that tv. This is the second year in a row we've watched the American feed. The commercials are so funny - I don't understand why we Canadians have to be punished with Canadian Tire and Tim Horton's commercials.

The babies are doing well - they are both feeling better. I will elaborate tomorrow in the 8 month update.

January is over! Bring on Spring!

One of the main reasons I pumped so long was that I was so worried about the babies getting sick. I always said "Just wait, as soon as I stop they're going to get sick". Well guess what…Emma has a snotty nose and Leah has some bite behind her once fake cough. John keeps telling me that its not my fault but I can't help feeling like I should have gone longer. They are not very sick and I'm hoping they get better rather than worse. They only had that one other runny nose when they were 4 months and at that point it was easy to keep them isolated from each other. It's almost impossible now that they roll on top of each other and swap toys covered in drool every 5 minutes.

John starts a new project tomorrow in Markham. He's going to have to drive so I won't have the car at all. It's so much effort to get the girls packed up and drive him to the GO station that I hardly ever take it now so hopefully I won't miss it too much.

I'm slowly getting used to staying at home. Last week I decided I was going to try planning our meals for the week. Every night I am so indecisive about what to make for dinner but this way I know what we're having. We did the groceries last night (I moved groceries to Monday night so I can get out of the condo!) and I have everything I need. The plan is to only go grocery shopping once a week - not every second day to pick up something we forgot. Once we sell the condo I might make a cleaning schedule - we'll see. Did you know there is a website you can sign up for where they send you emails everyday telling you what to do! I thought that was pretty funny. I was going to sign Coby up for it as a joke - he's pretty animated about how much he hates cleaning.

Not much else to report. We had fun in Oshawa on Sunday night. Tonight is Wee Ones at the library. I bought the girls little swimmers diapers and we were planning on taking them over to the YMCA one weekend to try out their bathing suits my mom got them. They don't allow babies in the condo pool. We were just going to pretend we didn't know but they have cameras and they hunt the babies down so I don't feel like dealing with that. I definitely won't miss the condo board!