Leah, Emma and Claire (and Jen and John)

John’s parents arrived today. John and I are going to be godparents and we asked his parents to come watch the girls so we could focus our attention on Ronan for a few hours. The ceremony isn’t until Sunday but John’s mom was itching to see the girls and his dad was itching to start the basement so they arrived this afternoon.

I am very excited to get the basement started. Eventually we plan on having a rec room and guest bedroom with an ensuite down there. For starters they are going to do the bedroom which we will use as a playroom. Although the girls don’t have a ton of toys they have an amazing ability of spreading them throughout every inch of the house and it’s getting on our nerves. I am trying to teach them to tidy up but it seems I’ll get one picking the toys up and putting them away then then other will think it’s funny to grab each toy that’s being put away and run off with it. I have yet to get them both in picking up mode.

The girls are doing all sorts of cute things these days. My favourite is when they lie on the floor on their backs and read their books. They love books lately and several times a day you’ll find them sitting in their chairs reading to themselves. They also like to bring me books and get me to read to them. I’ve also started giving them snacks without putting them in their feeding chairs. I make them sit in their comfy chairs until they are done eating. It takes a bit of persistence (especially with Emma) but they are getting the idea that if they want to eat their Arrowroot they must stay in their chair or Mom will take it away and she could care less if they cry.

They are both obsessed with the cupboards and it is driving me insane. It used to be we could block them with chairs but now they can move the chairs. My holdout on childproofing has come to an end. I bought these neat magnet locks and now all we have to do is get them installed.

Things are a lot better around here - not 100% but a lot better. I did end up getting sick but nowhere near as bad as John. We are both on the road to recovery and at this point our only symptoms are waves of nausea and complete loss of appetite - which is honestly like heaven compared to the past few days. The girls are both recovering from nasty diarrhea and they've been sleeping a lot - 13 hours at night and 2 naps. They've been a bit whiny but they never got fevers or lost their appetites which we are very thankful for.

So needless to say we haven't been up to much at all. We had plenty of offers for help but I just didn't feel right about spreading the nasty germs to anyone. Drew came over last night and helped John get the girls to bed then watched the Raptors game with us.

Tonight we were in the living room playing with the girls when I asked Leah if she wanted her dog toy. Rather than crawling over she decided to walk. We made such a big deal that for the next 45 minutes (until bedtime) she walked everywhere. She was so proud of herself. She's not at all steady and having Emma around doesn't help. We had to hold Emma back because she wanted to chase Leah and Leah's not quite ready for that! Hopefully she'll remember tomorrow.

Here's a video. John is holding Emma back which is why you hear her crying at the end. She wanted to tackle Leah…ah the joys of having two!

 THE VIDEO

Poor John has had a rough couple of days. He puked pretty much every 1.5 hours for over 24 hours. He couldn’t keep anything down until last night when we got him some Gatorade. While the puking has subsided he still has the fever, nausea, and a headache. So no, he is still not well.

I was fine yesterday. In an attempt to get the girls out of the house and let John rest I took them to Mother Goose in the morning and to the library in the afternoon. I was thinking what a great immune system I had until the middle of the night when I woke up repeatedly feeling like I was going to puke. The feeling has been with me all day but I haven’t given up any food yet. The thought of having to eat is motivation enough to breathe through the puking sensation. My temperature has been climbing but I still don’t have a fever or a headache. Hopefully I can sleep it off tonight.

It’s hard to tell if the girls are getting sick. Their appetites are good and for the most part they were in good spirits. They had two long naps today and several very dirty diapers each (a rare event around here) so I have a feeling they’re fighting something. Emma was very clingy tonight and wanted lots of hugs which is not a good sign. Taking care of the two of them when we’re healthy is tiring. Taking care of them when we’re sick is miserable. Taking care of the two of them when we’re all sick is something I don’t even want to think about!

Last night the check engine light came on while John was driving home from the train. I spent all last night hoping a night parked safely in our garage would make it feel better but no such luck. He took it in this morning and it was there all day. Six hundred bucks later and we have our car back. As some of you may know, due to a mess up by the salesman, we have free maintenance on the Focus. I’m not just talking oil changes - we get all the recommended service for free. We’ve been really good at following the maintenance plan - there’s something about telling the service guy that you actually don’t owe them $400 for package 4 (aka the greatest ripoff around) that makes you want to do it again and again. So needless to say we are not impressed that anything this major went wrong. Especially not seeing as we are a mere 6 months (3000km) away from the end of the lease. I know the odds are higly in Ford’s favour that we’ll be driving one of their minivans soon but now I am even more determined to try and find a way to not let that happen.

So that in itself was enough to label the day crappy. Unfortunately it doesn’t end there. At lunch time John called and said he felt sick…like he was going to barf sick. I told him to go buy himself some lunch and report back. When he called an hour later and said that he couldn’t eat his Wendy’s chicken sandwich combo I knew we were in trouble. By then he was also reporting a fever and a headache. Since we had no car he had to take the train to the dealer and get the shuttle home. He lay in bed all afternoon while the girls laughed and screamed their heads off - with no car and heavy rain there was nothing I could do to keep them quiet. He got up to have some dinner and for an hour he seemed to be feeling better. I got the girls to bed and then he started barfing. John never throws up. The last time I saw him barf it was self inflicted and even then that only happened once and it was many years ago (Coby will remember!). He is now laying on the couch, drinking gingerale (John hates gingerale), with two pairs of socks on and a blanket because he is freezing. We got some flu stuff but he’s waiting until bedtime to take it.

Not that it would do us any good now but we had an appointment tonight to get the girls their flu shots. We had to cancel it because we had no car. Cross your fingers that the girls (or even me for that matter) don’t get sick.

Nothing too exciting this past week. The girls are doing well. They are very silly lately and they find each other very, very funny. Some of their favourite games are chasing each other, dancing to music together and locking themselves in their play structure which we have made into a fort in our living room (beats furniture!). On a not so cute front Emma figured out that toys can go in the cat door today.

We had a pretty relaxing weekend. We were supposed to see Coby, Carrie and Ronan on Friday but Carrie was sick so they stayed home. Saturday we did some shopping then relaxed. Sunday John attempted to put up the Christmas lights outside but the ladder is too short and it was much too windy for him to go up on the roof.

Today was far from relaxing. Jess goes back to work next month and is currently interviewing so I have been watching Sarah and Brennan. Today she had 3 interviews and I had the 4 kids from 9:30am til 2:30pm. I have a new respect for people that run in home daycare for infants and toddlers - I am pretty tired.

That’s all I’ve got. Pretty boring around here these days. The girls are sleeping better again. I have no idea why…

The other day Alicia asked me when the girls started yogurt. I had no idea - I thought it might have been while we were still in the condo but I wasn’t sure. Luckily I have their every move documented so I just had to search the updates.

Teeth:
I haven’t looked and we’ve had no signs of teething. Since we are spending more time around kids their age I realize just how toothy they both are. Nice to see them excelling at something!

Hair:
It’s getting thicker. Everyone who hasn’t seen them in awhile comments on how much more hair they have. I probably could get Leah’s hair in a tiny ponytail but I think it would look stupid…

Sleep:
Much better than last month but still not perfect. We had a stretch of 5 nights of uninterrupted 12 or 13 hour sleeps but since then it’s been hit or miss. Last night Leah woke up at 4am and was just talking to herself. It wouldn’t be a big deal except it wakes me up and then I can’t get back to sleep. We also had a night last week where they were screaming with laughter at 3am. John and I were lying in bed laughing at them which was a nice change from being fed up with being up in the middle of the night. They have officially gone down to one nap a day which if they had their way would be in the morning. We get in a nice little groove but then we have Mother Goose on Wednesday mornings at 10:30 which messes it up. Oh well - good thing they’re flexible. A couple of times Leah has got pretty wound up in the afternoon and taken a second nap but Emma is officially done.

We have also moved their bedtime to 7:30 which is quite nice. We now give them a bath every night and they get their bottles in their room while we read them a story. They go to bed no problem and they don’t cry anymore at all. They say night night to us and go to sleep. It’s very cute. I love having an extra 30 mins to myself each night.

Getting around:
This month Emma decided to walk. It’s by far my favourite developmental thing because she is just so proud of herself. It’s also very nice not to have to carry her everywhere when we’re out and I’m by myself. She is getting steadier and quicker with each passing day.

Leah has also shown amazing progress and is able to stand up by herself (in the middle of the room) and walk a few steps. She’s nowhere near as steady as Emma was but she has determination. I don’t think she’ll be taking any one month breaks like her sister now that she’s started to get the hang of it. She is also very proud of herself and she seems a lot less frustrated these past few weeks.

We got them walking shoes this month and they love them. They both ask for their shoes and will sit patiently while we put them on. They’re also great because you can really hear them coming. They’re not light on their feet!

Food:
It’s been a month of trying to keep them both regular. We’ve had to carefully watch their diet and we’ve ended up cutting back their milk intake. We tried the other dairy but it did not help. We now give them water all day long and they get their milk at bedtime. This has been really frustrating because it doesn’t exactly get us any closer to getting them off the bedtime bottle. I am making an effort to stop my obsession with their bedtime bottle. They need milk and since they still aren’t 20lbs yet (according to our scale) it’s pretty obvious they need the extra calories. It’s just one of those things I said I would never do which I know is stupid but it bugs me and I just have to forget about it.

So now that the constipation is sorted out they are eating well. They still aren’t very adventurous but they eat healthy foods and have healthy appetites so I think they’re doing fine.

Talking:
They were both evaluated by the speech and language program earlier in the month and they are doing just fine for their age. They are picking up new words every day and starting to communicate their wants and needs. I am using some of the strategies I learned in the workshop and I can see it helping. We have to go back in January for the second workshop which while a pain should be interesting. I’m too lazy to list all their words but I would say they’re nearing 50 by now although some are way more common than others. Cat is still a favourite - poor Jackson!

Personalities:
Not a big change this month. Emma is still our little suck and Leah is still miss independent although she does get sucky every now and then. Leah is very motivated by food and Emma is very motivated by our reaction. They are both very good at playing and they only follow us around when we’re in the kitchen. They like “helping” with laundry, vacuuming, cleaning and they love the dishwasher. In that parenting class I took they said that all kids should do chores as soon as they are able and not be rewarded so they learn it’s their family job. I can’t wait. Two little slaves!!

We started swimming lessons this month. They both love the water and they don’t cry unless they are cold. They will blow bubbles and don’t mind being dunked. Leah even tries to go off by herself which is pretty funny. We also started Mother Goose which is when I realized how independent they both are. Part of me wishes they would sit on my lap and stay close like all the other kids but then I go home and I’m thankful they’re not like that. They seem to enjoy Mother Goose. They are starting to pick up the words to songs and they will sing which is very cute. They can say row row row and something that sounds kind of like merrily for Row Your Boat.

We have had a lot less temper tantrums this month which is very nice. Emma has bitten Leah twice in the past few days to try and get her to give something up. It is very hard not to have a big reaction to that type of behaviour but so far they are isolated events.

That’s all I can think of. We are all doing well. We’re a bit tired but it could be so much worse. They are so much fun now and every day they make us laugh.

…and as I predicted she had NO FEAR. She usually starts off sitting down in her chair and then she’ll stand up. She may or may not get her balance before moving forward. We have seen her get all the way across the tv room and we have also seen her dive bomb and hit the floor! No tears though she just gets up and tries again. She’s very proud of herself. I think she still needs to get more balance before she takes off but somehow I don’t think we’ll be able to convince her of that. There’s a reason kids learn to walk while they’re still under 3 feet and the ground is nice and close. I’m just very happy we have carpet.

The girls had a good Halloween. We had a full house and after dinner as John and I got ready to take the girls out in the wagon the grandparents decided that not trick or treating wasn’t an option. John’s dad grabbed Emma, my dad grabbed Leah and we all followed as they went door to door with their trick or treat bags (that my mom magically produced…hmm…). The girls thought it was really funny and they weren’t shy or scared by some of the more elaborate houses. I took some pics but they are all too dark.

When we got home we let them play with their candy while the rest of us rooted through and ate the good stuff. Mean I know but we all know I’m mean by now. The girls had no interest in eating it - they were more interested in hoarding it from each other and putting it back in the pumpkin bag.

My parents left for Florida on Tuesday morning. My dad has been itching to go with the cold rainy weather. Of course since he left it’s been in the upper teens and dry. It’s supposed to rain this weekend so I’ll have to call him and tell him how miserable it is up here in the great white north. Speaking of the phone I don’t think I ever mentioned that we are fully on Vonage now. We got a nice card from Bell today telling us how much they missed our 75 bucks a month.

John’s dad has been here this week. On Tuesday he came with us to the speech appointment which was helpful because I got to take one girl in at a time. Leah went first and they videotaped me playing with her. I then got to watch the video and it was quickly apparent that I am a question machine. When encouraging kids to speak you are not supposed to ask a bunch of questions. I knew that I did it but the video really drove it home. Emma was second and I did much better. The therapist was cursing herself for taping over Leah because the difference in me and the girls reaction was really neat to see and she said she could have played it in her workshop (was I ever happy she taped over it!). Emma was much more engaged and spoke quite a few words. I’m supposed to keep on applying what I learned but I still have to go to another workshop in January. If all goes well that will be the last.

Yesterday John’s dad came to Mother Goose with us. It was much easier having another person there and the girls didn’t make anyone cry. In the afternoon I met Alicia and Amelia at Square One while John’s dad watched them. After shopping we all came back to our place where John and Jeff met us for our annual Raptors season opener night. After all the girls were fed and put to bed we raided their candy and relaxed.

Today the weather was beautiful and we did some work outside and continued organizing the garage so we can fit our car inside. John and I took the girls to swimming tonight - they let us dunk them no problem now. They seem to enjoy swimming except they get cold. Someone called our house at 1:30am last night and it woke Leah up. We tried to get her to settle on her own but she kept on waking up. I gave her a bottle at 3am but she was up with Emma at 7:30am. She was a real grump today and we’re all hoping it’s just because she didn’t sleep well and not because she’s coming down with something. She actually wanted me which was what she was like when she had the cold…

Here are some Halloween pics. We got the costumes in Vegas. Emma is a cow and Leah is a giraffe. They were very cute.

At the pumpkin patch

Still at the pumpkin patch…

Cute Emma in John’s baseball cap

Halloween

Temptation

Eating dinner with Amelia