Father’s Day. Sleep. Food.

Last Sunday we celebrated Father’s Day for John. It’s hard to believe this was John’s 4th Father’s Day - his first one was celebrated in the NICU and the nurses made cards with polaroids of Leah and Emma.

In 2005 I got him a Father’s Day shirt at Old Navy. It was pretty cheesy “World’s Greatest Dad” and I thought for sure he’d put it in his drawer and that would be the end of that. I never expected him to wear it almost weekly for two years! This year I decided he needed a new one and a few Fridays ago the girls and I spent 3 hours at Square One searching for any Father’s Day shirt. We found nothing. So I decided to make one. Arts and crafts are not my thing - especially those that involve fabric paint, markers and three year olds, but I knew he’s like it so we made one. Leah and Emma also made themselves shirts for the special day.

Needless to say he loved it. We took him to the lake down in Burlington and then for lunch. Anyone who knows John knows how lucky the girls are to have him as a Dad. He is fun and patient and the part I love most about him is he is able to be such a wonderful parent without spoiling them rotten. Yep, all ‘four of his girls’ are very lucky.

In other news, Leah and Emma have started sleeping in. I am for sure going to jinx this but for the past 10 days they have slept in til between 7:30 and 9am! This morning John and I were downstairs doing stuff while all three of them slept. I don’t remember the last time that happened where it wasn’t dark out! John thinks it’s because he put the fan and the radio in their room. I think it’s because one night, after a particularly long day that started at 6am,I put a quilt over their window so it’s dark.

Or maybe it’s because they feel sorry for me because Claire is turning into a horrible sleeper. She’s really brutal lately and can’t seem to get into a deep sleep except between the hours of 10pm - 6am. It could be her teeth, it could be my supply, it could be that she’s spoiled… I’m now taking supplements, eating oatmeal and drinking a ton of water. It seems to be helping a bit. I am so very tempted to give her an 8 oz bottle of formula see if it knocks her out! She won’t drink that much pumped milk - little bugger. 

So in an attempt to fill her belly we gave her rice cereal last night. She loved it. It’s funny because she was so sturdy in the chair that we didn’t even have to put it in recline mode. Hard to believe that until yesterday I could take all credit for these chubby cheeks!

Before her meal she thought the bib was the treat.

A video of me and my helpers feeding Claire. I’m hoping the novelty wears off quickly!

I’ve also started an art tag in Flickr so I can keep track of the family artwork. I have a box that I put it in but I figure I’ll take pics as well. Yesterday it was so hot I got out the colour wonder finger paints Amelia got the girls for their bday. When they were done Leah insisted on writing her own name on her page. I was pretty impressed with what she came up with! It says Leah for those of you that can’t work it out

 

Super cute Emma

Emma is turning into quite the performer. She is constantly singing. Here she is singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and her abcs. You Tube has cut off the beginning and the end and the audio and video are a bit off but you get the idea…

Twinkle Twinkle

ABCs

 

Cold hands mama

It's still cold outside. It's some demented payback for the soft winter we had. I've taken the girls out in their wagon every afternoon. We go over to the pond and they say hi and bye to the birdies (Canada Geese that never left - I don't know if any of them do anymore?!). About 2 blocks from home I let them out and Emma pushes the wagon while Leah tries to test me over and over again by walking off by herself. Lucky for me "Do you want me to put you back in the wagon" seems to have the same effect as "I will pick you up if you don't hold my hand"…it's just not a very lasting effect.

I have been spoiled the last few weeks because John's dad has been here and then I spent that week in Windsor. He took a week off this week and I was a bit worried about 5 days in the house with no car and cold weather. The no car thing really is killing me (I told you I would whine eventually). I was the one who pushed John to get a new job and said over and over again that I was tough and could live without a car. Well it sucks…but I'm hoping the warm weather, if it ever comes, will help. And at the end of the day I've had the pleasure of actually having a car and not being able to drive it and that sucked much, much more than this little inconvenience. Being the wonderful person that he is, John has also offered to take mass transit whenever I want the car. It's not an option I will use very often but it's nice to know it's available.

Lately you can tell how the day is going to go within seconds of when Leah wakes up. If she's happy and chatting away to Emma you know it's going to be a good day. If she's crying and whining to get out of her crib watch out. On those bad days the whining sometimes never stops and it pushes me to my patience limit. One of the good things about being alone with the girls is that I spend a lot of time trying to figure out what her problem is. Early indications are pointing to sleep. She's a pleasure on days when she gets 12 hours. On days when she's up 30 mins to 1 hour early she's not happy. It got so bad yesterday morning I put her in her crib at 9:30am. She was not happy, but hey she wasn't happy before I put her in the crib, and within 10 minutes she fell asleep. I woke her up 1 hour later and then put her down for her nap with Emma. She was a pleasure to be around yesterday afternoon. They were both up early this morning and it was a so so day for Leah. Happy but not well rested happy. We put them to bed at 7 tonight. They didn't actually fall asleep til 7:30 but I'm hoping she'll sleep her full 12 hours. Fingers crossed.

The girls finally figured out they can sit in their doll strollers. Luckily at 22 pounds the stroller can handle their weight. This has resulted in HOURS of entertainment. As soon as one of them sits down the other will come over, do up the seatbelt and push her sister around. Then they switch. It's pretty cute.

 ***VIDEO OF THE GIRLS PLAYING WITH THE STROLLER***

Seatbelts are not optional 

 

Hi Mom

I got a call this morning from my mom asking if everything was ok because I hadn't updated the site (and posted the promised video). I think she's getting anxious to see the girls!

Everything is fine. I've fallen victim to DVR. John taped a bunch of shows while I was in Windsor last week and I've been watching them with him when the girls go to bed instead of spending time on the computer.

The drive back from Windsor was terrible. I threw up 3 times. I had a bad headache and then got carsick…or maybe it was some quick acting flu because both John's parents weren't feeling well either. I was so happy to get home and I ran inside to ask John if he could help his dad with the girls so I could go puke some more. Poor John had spent all weekend painting our family room/kitchen as a surprise and I don't think he got quite the reaction he was hoping for. It is really nice and I did fully appreciate it once I felt better.

Monday I had the second part of the speech workshop. This week we learned how songs really connect with kids and get them to talk. We spent 30 mins writing our own songs - which was tougher than you might think! I think I'll pass on writing mine here - you'll all think I've truly gone simple. Needless to say I've been that annoying singing mom that I can't usually stand all week and it really does work. I need to get a video of them singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

John's dad had the inpector in yesterday to look at the electrical work. Everything passed so we are one step closer to moving all the crap downstairs. I have to stop saying crap. Last week we were at the mall and I made some comment to John's dad about all the Dora crap. Next thing we knew Emma was yelling crap, crap, crap. They are little sponges.

We finally turned their carseats around. Emma is fine with it. Leah gets pretty worked up when I don't respond to her every need (mainly up, up, up, UP, UP, UP! UP!). She'll get used to it.

Leah has been pretty whiny lately. I'm not sure what it is but I'm hoping that a few days locked up in the house will get her back to normal.

Here's a video of the little recital the girls put on for the nuns.

***PIANO VIDEO***

 

General silliness

The girls really like to dance. It is pretty entertaining. They each have their own dancing style. Emma is very intense and Leah just walks around all happy go lucky. I'll have to get some more video to capture them when they're really dancing but this one was too funny to pass up. Enjoy.

I know some of you saw this when I posted it and couldn't see the video. I can't get the video to embed (something weird is going on with YouTube). Here is a link. I'll try to embed it again later.

THE VIDEO

 

18 months

I can't believe they're 18 months.

Teeth:
I'm officially not sticking my fingers in their mouths anymore. They are getting really good at brushing their teeth on their own.

Hair:
Filling in slowly. Leah has more hair and it's not as curly. I actually bought baby shampoo for them this month (we had been using the all purpose baby wash).

Sleep:
Not good. It's completely hit or miss but more often than not one of them will be up in the night screaming her (which turns to their) head off. I'm inclined to think they're having bad dreams because they get so upset. We also thought maybe they were hungry so we've started snacks and tried to get them to eat as much as possible at dinner. The last two nights they have eaten way more than usual and slept through so hopefully we're on to something. John and I are both pretty frustrated (and tired) with this - they were sleeping better a year ago. They are still having two naps every so often. They like to nap in the morning but I'm trying to get them to go right after lunch. Some days are better than others.

Getting around:
Leah started walking this month. They are both getting very good at climbing things. They can get up on their craft table (of course they stand on it) and they are smart enough now to pull things over to use as a step to get on the couches. They have a pretty good idea of where the edge is but it still makes me very nervous. I think they would both be careful enough on their own but you can't trust them not to accidentally (or so I think) push each other.

Food:
I am happy to report that we've had a pretty regular month and they are back to eating all their favourites. They've both developed a love of raisins which has really helped. I've also started making them banana and apple bread on a regular basis. They love bread of any kind but they gobble up homemade stuff. They still aren't overly excited about trying new things but we manage to get a well balanced diet it them although some days it is very challenging.

Talking:
They continue to add words on a daily basis. They are starting to use their words to tell us what they want which is reducing the crying and whining. Emma is better at this and Leah can still pitch a pretty good fit but she will eventually tell you what she wants. My favourite is during the day when Leah is tired we ask her if she wants to go night night. If she doesn't she used to ignore us but now says Noooooo. If she does she'll come over, put her arms up to be picked up and say night night. Emma will run to the stairs saying night night and they both usually go to sleep. Over the past week or so they have both started saying no. At first I thougth they didn't understand the meaning but if I throw in "are you a good girl?" in a series of questions that get a "nooooo" they will smile and not say anything. Buggers. Leah has taken no one step further and has a quick decisive no, a long drawn out noooooo and a no no no no which is accompanied by a wagging finger. It is so hard not to laugh.

Personalities:
It is becoming harder and harder not to compare their behaviour - both good and bad. Leah has been a real handful lately. She is so determined, independent and impatient. She gets very upset when she doesn't get her way and it is a real test to my patience. She lets you know in a hurry if she's tired, hungry or mad. That being said she is much better at sharing and much less sensitive than Emma. She plays well by herself and when she's in a good mood she's full of laughter and smiles.

Emma is for the most part much more even tempered. She seeks approval and direction from us and is much less independent. She will share things with us (including the cat) but if you ask her to give something to Leah she gets very upset. Her outbursts are short lived and quickly forgotten. When her feelings are hurt she drops to the floor and does the saddest cry…with the occasional peek up to see if we are watching…

They both have their challenges and we are really starting to have to act like parents. It amazes me how much work it is and how consistent you have to be. The other week I let them in the cupboards because I was fed up saying no every 2 mins (this was pre magnets). I successfully created two little monsters who pitched fits any time you tried to tell them no after that because they knew that they'd been allowed that one time. I definitely learned my lesson!

Enough complaining! For the most part they are two happy little girls. They are full of laughs and smiles and they like to play with us and each other. I'm really glad I found the video feature because now you can all see just what they are like most of the time. They both really love books and will either read by themselves or fight for a spot on our lap.

Here's a video I took today. It was dark so the quality isn't that good. They just started this walking around in circles dancing thing - they get so dizzy which is not for the faint of heart. I'd never thought I'd be saying that I'm glad we don't have a lot of furniture. There are some pics too.

 THE VIDEO

Drawing

Dresses….

"Do you think we can fit mom down there?"

Emma

Leah

 

Two little walkers! (Video)

Leah has been walking full time since late last week. It is so much fun to see them both up and they seem to alternate between nicely following each other around and chasing each other. She is much happier since she mastered walking and for the most part will go down willingly now (she was crying whenever we came home and put her down - not very convenient when you have two babies to unload). We are hearing much less "Up, Up, Up" these days unless you are relaxing on the couch and they want up on your lap to read a book. It's hard not to indulge their love of reading though so we usually give in.

I can't wait for their next NICU appointment (I don't think I have ever said that!). I don't think they thought she'd be walking by 18 months corrected nevermind 18 months actual (16 months corrected). I wasn't so sure either and I am so happy with the progress she has made - remember at one year she was still doing the commando crawl. She's pretty proud of herself as well and Emma is very excited and the house is filled with non stop laughter from the two of them playing.

We had a busy weekend. On Saturday we took the girls to Joe and Andrea's wedding in Port Perry. We decided to go to the ceremony and skip the reception. The girls were very good. It was a 1.5 hour drive and then they had to sit in church and afterwards we visited with John's family during the break between the wedding and the reception. We brought lots of snacks, books and a couple of toys. They both did really well and after the ceremony was done they walked all over the church to the delight of all their admirers. They had on their little dresses (yes I will put them in dresses now that they can walk) and they looked like little girls. Not very dainty little girls though!

Sunday I had my cookie exchange. Last year this was a disaster because I put dozens of treats in the condo freezer and then proceeded to salivate over them all day long. This year I put most (yes we did some sampling) down in the basement freezer. Hopefully laziness will keep me away from it and I won't be forced to send it all with John to work so I can't eat it.

Today the girls are 18 months (and Aby is 1 - Happy Birthday Aby!). I'll try and do the update later today.

Here's a video of them both walking in their diapers and Robeez. Next summer I think this is going to be their main outfit!

THE VIDEO 

 

Leah walking

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

 

Emma Wonder.

Nothing very exciting to report. I had the second speech and language workshop on Friday and we have a follow up appointment this Tuesday. I'm supposed to pick a target word and repeat it all sorts of ways. Since the girls say and understand "up" so well we've decided to try for down. So far we get "da" every once and awhile. During the follow up session they will videotape me interacting with the girls (using all the new skills I've learned….) and then we will review the tape and receive feedback. It should be interesting. I would really love to get discharged from the program but I'm not going to beg and be reported to child services. The workshops are a pain because I have to find someone to watch the girls for 2 hours in the middle of a workday.

We had a nice weekend. Last night we did some shopping, took the girls for a walk then watched the Sens pound the Leafs 8-0. The girls did well with the clock change this morning and got up at 7:45 new time. Today we went to the library - no I didn't have to drag John along - he was the one who suggested it after he discovered the Oakville library has much more current computer books than Mississauga. I wish I shared his love of technical books. After the library we took the girls to the pumpkin patch and got a pumpkin. We were going to try and get the girls in bed by 7:30 but by 7 all four of us were tired of each other and we decided to let them go to bed because they were very tired. We'll try to stretch it out a bit more tomorrow night. We're looking to change their bedtime from 8pm to 7:30pm.

Tomorrow John's dad and Drew are coming to drop off our old couch. I am fed up looking at our empty living room and I miss our nice comfy couch. John's dad is going to stay for the week and his mom is going to come for the weekend. My parents are also staying tomorrow night on their way through to Florida so we're going to have a full house. I'm going to have to be extra vigilant that none of the grandparents or Drew try to sneak the girls any Halloween candy! We're not going to take the girls trick or treating but we'll probably pull them around in their wagon so they can see all the "cumkins" - that's the word they learned today.

Getting their bedtime bottle in Ottawa
Going for a walk

Here's a video taking yesterday afternoon of Emma dancing…we call her Stevie Wonder. She gets her rhythm from John

THE VIDEO 

 

VIDEOS!!!

Here we go. I found this website that hosts the video so expect lots more in the future. This one was taken moments ago. While some of you may think that Leah is at a disadvantage because she doesn’t walk this will show you that is not the case. Pay close attention to the audio at the end - I promise Emma was not hurt in the making of the video!

 THE VIDEO