Catdoor fun

Another one from before Christmas. Claire giggling away.

 

Carwash

This was taken on Dec 1st on the way home from John’s work party. It was the first time we’d taken them through a carwash and since I had the camera handy I decided to catch their reaction.

 

Happy New Year

Being the boring parents of three that we are, John and I decided to invite a few of our university friends over for New Years Eve celebrations. We had planned on spending the evening with Coby, Carrie and Ronan and I waffled on inviting our other friends. My main sticking point was that I had no intentions of being awake as the clock struck midnight. Finally I just sent out an invite and with brutal honesty told our friends they had to be out of our house at 10pm so I could go to bed. Surprisingly people came and those that didn’t were either out of  town or suffering from pink eye.

We had a nice and relaxing evening. At some random time just before 8pm we put on a fake New Years for the kids. They all thought it was fun.

I have written a few of these New Years posts. Every year I go back and look at my resolutions for the year before. This time last year has some good reading as we were exactly one week away from Claire’s arrival. There wasn’t any snow on the ground, I was getting anxious and I was starting to wonder how we were going to manage a baby with 2.5 year olds. It was the calm before the storm that didn’t turn out to be that bad.

And I actually did quite well on the resolutions part. I did breastfeed Claire, I did buy a treadmill (and ran my first 5km), I did start to take better care of myself and take the time to enjoy my children more.

We are very lucky in that again this year we have a lot to be thankful for. Last night, after I kicked all our friends out, John and I had a quick year in review. The highlights from the year  - Claire, my section recovery, John going back to Deloitte,the second car which gave me some freedom, preschool, Drew and Jen getting engaged,toilet training and the end of the afternoon nap come to mind. John’s addition of his TV made me laugh.

You just have to look at Claire to see how much can change in a year. She has gone from a tiny baby to a fully functional member of our family. Sometimes it just floors me that we are a family of 5 and other times I can’t remember a time where she wasn’t around. Leah and Emma turned 3 this year and became big sisters. They are growing up by the day and I am getting more and more paranoid about losing my digital memories of all three of them.

2008 is shaping up to be another exciting year. Leah and Emma will start school in September and Claire will learn to walk, talk and, if we’re lucky, sleep through the night. Hey, I can officially say I didn’t sleep for 8 consecutive hours in 2007!

My resolutions for this coming year are both new and old. Here they are in no particular order:
-Exercise, eat right. 2008 will be the year of no excuses
-I will take time to enjoy the things I used to enjoy before I got sidetracked by being a mom.
-go on a vacation with John
-I will stop using tired and really tired as reasons for not doing stuff
-I will take my children to Centre Island on a day where it is operational.
-I will be a better cook
-I will try and be upbeat when I put my girls on a bus and send them off into the unknown.
 

Wishing you all a happy and most of all healthy 2008.

 

Christmas 2007

Leah and Emma really got Christmas this year and it was a lot of fun. They have had an ongoing holiday theme at preschool so there was no way that Christmas could sneak up on us this year.

The official holiday started on their last day of preschool. They had a holiday party where their families were invited. For 45 mins they did crafts then sang us all the songs they’d been taught (including my favourite, Feliz Daddydad). Claire really enjoyed the singing and was clapping and rocking away. At the end of the party I got two really nice (I’m serious) wooden trees that they’d worked on. The whole day was really nice.

The build up to Santa was pretty fun. We drove around admiring xmas lights and the girls really got into it this year. Last year they’d point them out but gradually lose interest. This year they were directing John down the street and squealing with excitement every time we found a good house. Unlike their neighbours, 3 year olds really appreciate those houses that really do it up with blow up Christmas characters and as much tacky crap that you can shove on your surburban postage stamp lawn. At least we had lots of snow to brighten it up.

They also learned all about Santa this year and were very excited about Rudolph and Christmas Eve. They settled on their gift from Santa in early December. Leah wanted a Dora Mermaid doll, Emma wanted a baby doll, and we were told Claire wanted a toy dog. Easy enough for Santa this year. They even told him he could find everything he needed at Costco.

Christmas Eve we went to Aunt Bonnie’s in Whitby to celebrate Great Grandpa’s 95th Birthday. The girls helped him blow out his cake and open his presents. We left there just before 8 and headed over to Great Grandpa’s house to get ready for Santa. They put out cookies and the reindeer food they made at school. They were easy to get into bed and Emma fell asleep quickly. Leah was up til 11 and kept on telling us she’d heard Santa and couldn’t sleep. Way too much excitement for Leah! John took 30 mins off their clock.

Christmas morning they woke up at 7:24 (6:54 their time) and sat in their room and talked. At 7am they started calling for us. They were super excited to see that Santa had delivered and were really excited about their stockings (which I had nearly forgotten about). They played with their Santa stuff and when everyone else was up we started to open all the presents. Needless to say they had lots of fun opening presents.

We all did really well with them this year and they loved everything they got. The biggest reaction was when they got a Dora DVD. They did a little touchdown dance and started screaming with excitement. It was funny.

Claire was really good and let everyone pass her around. She even managed to get a new tooth while we were in Oshawa and I didn’t notice til we got home. She really likes music lately and the maracas and drum set she got are a big hit.

All in all it was a very relaxing holiday. The girls enjoy seeing their family and we are happy to share them at a time of year that really is fun with kids around. 

 

Daddy - by Leah

 

Snowed In

Today was Patrick’s birthday. They had been predicting a snow storm of ‘bring in the army’ proportions all week but I wasn’t worried. The party was maybe 6 blocks away. We are Canadian - we can drive 6 blocks in the snow.

I have no idea how much snow we got. I did wade in some stuff that was well up to my knee. I also have no boots - I threw my old ones out in a tidying fit and it’s been on my list since October.  So anyway I got all three bundled up while John cleared the driveway and warmed the car. He was taking a really long time so I brought the girls out myself one by one. He was pretty skeptical that we’d be able to even get out of the driveway. I wasn’t. He was right. We got stuck half way out the driveway and then about 10 more times on the 100ft journey to the end of our street. Before the last push that got me on the more travelled road, he told me to wait for him once I got going. I was all set to stop but there were 2 more stuck cars and I thought I should keep on moving and save John having to dig us out again. I  went what I thought was really slow but still John wasn’t coming. Finally he appeared in the rear view mirror running in the snow. As he approached I yelled out the window for him to jump in the passenger side so I didn’t have to stop. He then disappeared from my sight and I had a moment of panic where I thought I’d run him over. I stopped the van I found out he had just stopped running in exhaustion. He was not impressed that I hadn’t stopped. I couldn’t stop laughing.

So we got to the party and had a good time. It was fitting that Patrick (the true Canadian) got a blizzard for his birthday. The girls had their cake and played with the other kids. Claire crawled around after Patrick but thankfully only tried to tackle him once.

So then we had to get home. We borrowed the Dempster shovel in anticipation of another rough drive. We didn’t even make it out of their driveway. With the help of the neighbourhood we were on our way again until we once again got stuck in the 100ft drive to our house. This time our neighbours came to our rescue and we were finally home. They still haven’t plowed and it’s safe to say we’re not going anywhere until they do.

Emma and Leah thought the whole thing was a very funny adventure. The highlights were when John and I watched in horror as a tandem plow blocked our way in and Leah piped up with ‘That truck is clearing a path for us’. We then did a family cheer when John got up enough speed to blast through the drift. And then with John and two neighbours pushing, the girls were chanting ‘Go Mommy Go!!’ at the top of their lungs. It was a tiring but entertaining day.

Yesterday we were in Sarnia celebrating Christmas at John’s Aunt Tina’s. The girls were really excited to go see Jeff, Tom and Steve and they had a lot of fun. When we got there Steve asked if they wanted to go play downstairs and off they went. We didn’t see much of them for the afternoon.

Last weekend we were also busy. John’s parents came down on Friday night so we could go to the Umbra sale early Saturday morning. We got there early this year and we had a lot of fun and got a ton of nice stuff. Saturday night we went to a Christmas party with my bookclub friends and then Sunday night we went to dinner. Monday we went to see Golden Compass.

The weekend before that we had John’s children’s Christmas party at the Science Centre. Emma and Leah really enjoyed the party and they got to sit on Santa’s lap. Claire was on his lap for a second but then started crying. After the party we went to the children’s exhibits which they loved. On that Sunday Drew and Jen came over to watch the girls while John and I did some shopping and then went to see a movie.

Those are the highlights of the past couple of weeks. December is always so busy. Next week the girls finish preschool til the New Year with a class party on Wednesday. They are teaching them all about different holiday traditions and they are really enjoying it.

Claire is eating well and sleeping well. Leah had another ear infection but it’s all cleared up now. All I want for Christmas is 3 healthy children and maybe some sleep!

 

Internet therapy

It’s 7 o’clock and all the girls are sleeping. John’s got work to do and I’m done my book so I figured I come upstairs and do an update. I should probably just leave it, but who knows when I’ll have the time/energy again.

Today was one of those days where John and I look at each other and wonder what we’ve done to our lives. I think my bad mood started when I found out that today was not the end of our 6 weekends of double swim lessons (that we all go to now that stupid me introduced the concept of watching the other swim). Oh no, there are two more weeks of the torture. I am so done with weekend family swim time that I have pulled the girls out of the January session and enrolled them at the Y. They are now on the wait list for a weekday morning and they will go themselves. Once they are in, they will progress at their own pace and I will never have to endure the stupidity of trying to get them in the same class again. 

The Y was one of the bright spots in my week and I’m hoping it lives up to my expectations. I fully expect to be singing it’s praises to the tune of previous vonage and dvr ravings. In addition to the weekly swim lesson, the girls also have 1.5 hour unparented dropin programs they can go to pretty much every day of the week. Not only can I drop them off but I can leave the building. Some are in the gym and some are more quiet craft/playtime. They went to one program last week and they loved it. It was a bunch of running around with gym equipment - they were tired that night. The only part that I’m not so sure about is that it’s in a well to do area of Oakville. The first mother I spoke to was actually a Nanny, which was fine, until she started boasting about her charges and their exceptional abilities. She kept on referring to Mom which was a bit weird. “I told Mom that the Y programs were stimulating and an excellent place for charge C to burn off some energy while working on their social skills.” I guess when you’re a Nanny you can’t say things like “I got 1.5 hours away from the little buggers and I got to go to the gym…and get paid!!”.

 So today was tiring. After swimming we came home to our Christmasy house (we decorated yesterday) and the girls and John did a gingerbread house. After lunch I took Emma grocery shopping. Leah was in full whine today and it got so bad that we had to follow through on “if you whine again you’re not going to go see the Christmas lights with Daddy”. She stood at the door while John took Emma. She thought he was coming back (he might of had he not known I’d kill him) and when he pulled out of the driveway she was horrified. Sobbing, screaming “HE’S GONE, HE’S GONE AND LEFT ME, COME BACK DADDY!!!” - the whole production. Thankfully she was sobbing that she didn’t listen and Daddy left without her. She definitely got the lesson, whether or not she’s learned anything depends on her state of mind. I think that’s the most frustrating part of three - you know they know but sometimes they just can’t seem to work it out.

Sweet baby Claire is doing well. She is a very unpredictable baby. Just when I think I’ve figured her all out she changes it up. She stopped eating again mid week and I decided to just give her chunks of table food. She gobbles up bread and baby cookies so I know she can chew. She’s hit or miss but on Friday she ate an entire meal of chicken and sweet potato chunks. She is definitely more interested in table food than mush. We’ll see where this goes but I am enjoying putting stuff on her tray and letting her feed herself.

I have also completely weaned her. Nursing at night was beoming more and more frequent and I reached my breaking point. This week she is getting up to eat twice in the night at around midnight and 4am. She still stirs for her soother many times a night. It still sounds horrible but it is so much better than it was. I changed her formula last week and it did not go well. She was up for 2 hours in the middle of the night. I wasn’t sure why but with the green poop for three mornings in a row, I decided it must be something in the formula. She’s back on the old stuff now and things are running smoother…and browner.

Not much else to report. Our busy Christmas weekends start next weekend. The girls are very excited about Christmas this year and have already written their letters to Santa. We had a very small amount of snow last week and we had to go out and play in it. Leah lasted longer than the rest of us and played alone in the backyard for 30 mins.

The Halloween treats are officially gone. I’d say about 80% of them ended up in the garbage. In the end the only thing they finally stopped trying were the candy body parts. They never quite caught on that they were body parts (who buys body parts??!) but they figured out they tasted awful. The two of them are now very interested in treats after meals which can get a bit tiring. They’ll have two bites of dinner then say they’re so full their tummy might get sore if they take another bite - only to ask for a cookie in the next sentence. They’ve got a long way to go in learning how to be sneaky. Emma has also started saying that Daddy (or Mommy) let’s them do things. Some of it is just down right ridiculous. Yesterday she claimed John let her lick peanut butter off a steak knife. When I said maybe a butter knife she insisted it was the sharp knife.

That’s all I can think of. I’ll get some pictures up on Flickr. I used the continous feature for some pictures and got some funny series. Claire wrestling Emma and John making faces with the girls.

 

Cold!

It’s freezing outside. Lugging three kids around in the cold is awful.

Claire and Emma are snotty again. Nothing serious and hopefully it will stay that way. These preschool germs are out of control - I’m thankful I had my preemie twins first. The girls were walking and talking before they were ever as sick as Claire gets now. Of course I was also pretty anal back then about having them around sick people. Now I pretty much let everything go except when they try and suck on Claire’s soother to clean it.

Claire is doing well and will be 10 months later this week. She is doing all sorts of fun things but I’ll wait and add them to the update. One really fun thing she did was go 8 hours between feeds the other night. Sadly, at nearly 10 months, that’s a record (in fact she shattered her previous record). I’m not lying when I say I’m tired!

Emma and Leah are also doing ok. Leah was a bit of a handful when my parents were here and I am not convinced more than ever that she is a total pain in the ass when she doesn’t get enough sleep. She needs to be in bed by 7. If she stays up late she does not get up any later and is not pleasant to be around. After nearly 2 months of limited whining it drove me insane. Thankfully the last 2 days have been pleasant.

The girls continue to plough through the Halloween treats. They are allowed two treats a day. One after breakfast and one after lunch. It was originally dinner but trying to get them to go to bed on their sugar high wasn’t working. They are both drawn to the sugary crap but after a lick throw most of it in the garbage so they can try another treat. Sometimes it can take 5 tries before they find something edible. Lucky for John they aren’t at all interested in the chocolate and haven’t taken notice of how much of it goes missing every night. Today I went through the drive thru at Tim Hortons and they both asked for a tim bit (donut hole). I told them they could either have a tim bit or a treat. They both chose treat without another word. I was surprised I didn’t get at least one “pleeeeeeease mommy” but then Leah told Emma that if they had a tim bit and a treat it would be too much sweet stuff and their tummies would get sore.

This past weekend John was in Niagara Falls playing poker with his friends. While he was away we painted the girls room. I had my own ideas about what I wanted their room to look like but I knew anything that wasn’t yellow and pink wouldn’t be accepted. We ended up painting Emma’s wall pink, Leah’s yellow, and doing stripes on the window wall. It turned out really well.

While John was away I took over swim duty. I usually try to avoid loaded questions but I couldn’t resist asking each of them who they wanted to take them swimming next week. The answer wasn’t at all surprising but the delivery made me laugh.

Emma: “Mommy, I think Leah wants to go swimming with you next week”
Me: “Don’t you want me to go with you?”
Emma: “No. I want Daddy, but Leah will go with you. I know she will.”

Leah: “I want Mommy and Daddy to come with me next week”
Me: “But who do you want to get in the water with you?”
Leah:”Daddy. You can sit upstairs and watch.”

My mom and dad are off to Florida. Lucky.

 

Halloween

Halloween is my favourite holiday. You can hype it up all you want and the only thing you have to worry about is how to deal with having a ridiculous amount of candy under the proud new ownership of your children. Thankfully the girls came out of their school Halloween party saying they could only have one candy at a time because a) their tummies would get sore and b) their teeth would get holes in them and fall out. I’m all for the fear tactics!

This year Halloween was an all day affair. We started off the morning carving our pumpkins. Thankfully Claire napped for this part so it was nice and relaxing. Afterwards they got washed and into their costumes and headed off to school for their party. They had a ton of fun and we got a full report of what everyone was wearing.

After school we had time for a quick dinner and then John and I took the three of them out (Claire lasted 30 mins) while my parents manned the door. I think starting out in the light helped a ton because the girls weren’t scared at all and there were some pretty scary houses. At different times they each ‘protected’ each other and it was really cute watching them race from house to house. It took them a bit to figure out they had to wait til the door opened to say trick or treat rather than yelling it right after they rang the doorbell. It was a warm night and they lasted nearly 2 hours.

Costumes were not a fight at all this year. Emma kept switching what she wanted to be, but she was sold on witch when my mom arrived with a hat and dress. She insisted she was a good witch. John’s mom got the girls yellow and red wings back in August and Leah has been set on being a yellow butterfly for a long time. There was no swaying her so we just went with it. In the end her costume was pretty funny but cute. Everyone thought she was a bee and she had no trouble correcting them. Once again their makeup was done by John. Claire wore (and filled) the giraffe costume that Leah wore on her second Halloween.

Butterfly, Witch and Giraffe.

Grumpy (with artisitic direction from Leah), Happy (by artistic direction from Emma) and C for Claire.

 

The Big City

My parents are here on their final visit before they head to Florida for the winter. The girls are all healthy again and we’ve been busy doing things that are easier with 4 adults around.

 Yesterday we took the 3 of them downtown for lunch with Dad and a trip on the ferry (aka ferris boat). Once again I sold the ferry before doing any research. Sure enough they are on winter schedule and Centre Island is closed for the season. We ended up taking the smallest ferry I’ve ever been on over to Ward’s Island and back. The girls enjoyed it and they kept on calling the CN tower a big needle. The weather was really warm yesterday and it wasn’t even cold on the lake. They did really well at walking and only said they were tired and needed a rest a couple of times. Claire was happy to look around and as usual was low maintenance.

Leah and Emma enjoyed seeing all the tall buildings and going for lunch with John. The highlight for them was playing on some cow statues in the courtyard outside John’s building. They also had fun on the GO train although the trip back could have ended about 3 stops sooner.

Claire is eating again and has even figured out eating puffs. She is pretty slow on the eating front but now I’m hoping we can move on to self feeding. I love the beginning of self feeding - throw her in the chair, give her some puffs, and sit back while it takes her 30 mins to eat them! We bought her one of those net feeders and she likes sucking ice more than anything else we’ve tried - also a good distraction while I do other things. Sleeping is still so so. I’m giving her more bottles now - not actively weaning her because I am not ready to do night time bottles quite yet.

Claire is now into waving at everyone. She has added saying “hibye” when she does it. It is pretty cute and I’ll have to get it on video. For the record her first word in context was MumMum for me.

Leah and Emma are doing pretty well. Leah isn’t sleeping as long as she should and we are noticing some of her behaviour crap coming back. I’m pretty sure it’s sleep although it might be just excitment with my parents here and halloween. She can get pretty wound up. Emma is good - she has been sleeping in til nearly 9 on the days that Leah is considerate enough to quietly get up. When Emma is tired she gets defiant. Neither one of them is particularly pleasant when they’re not well rested.

Halloween party today at school and trick or treating tonight. Exciting stuff. 

On the cow.