One of THOSE Days

After very sporadic sleep last night, this is the first time all day that the kids have been napping simultaneously (it's 5pm). I missed lunch and feel like I've had two babies screaming in my ears all day (I wonder why). Most days there is a rhythm or a pattern and so long as the kids get fed when they're hungry, get stimulated when they're playing and sleep when they're tired then all is good. But occasionally there are days like today when they're over-tired so won't sleep, over-hungry so won't eat, and over-tired and over-hungry so don't want to play.

Starting last week, we began doing the prescribed stretches on Molly's ankles every evening during the hour when she has her boots off. Because she's still really stiff, the stretches make her scream and shake (whether in pain or rage, or some combination). It makes for an emotionally draining time and although she typically falls straight to sleep after her boots are back on, I think all the screaming makes her sleep more fitful, so she hasn't been sleeping through the night as often.

Anyways, enough griping for now!

She's Dangerous

Here's a video of Molly in a new outfit - some kind of cross between a '70's disco leisuresuit and something SuperDave Osborne would have been proud of.

You can see that the boots and bar are definitely not slowing her down any, and why I'm reluctant to put Jacob down too close to her.

The Maple Leafs Fall to Earth

Here are a couple of fall photos of our yard and house. As you can tell, raking hasn't been a huge priority over the past few weeks. But it looks fantastically colourful.

We went down to Barrie this afternoon to try to find some clothes for Molly - she has some unique needs with the boots and bar (i.e. sleepers without feet, pants that button up the legs, long sleeved shirts for the cooler weather), but didn't have much luck. If we'd wanted outfits that said "Daddy's Little Princess" we would have had dozens of choices. But that's just not how she rolls.

At four months the kids are getting enormous. Jacob's over 13 1/2 pounds and Molly is 12 1/2. Well, that seems enormous to us as it seems just yesterday that they were below 5 pounds. But seeing Tara's one-month old who's over 10 lbs and hearing of Alison's grandson who's 12 lbs at a month makes us realize that it's all relative!

And here's a photo of Molly peering out of the stroller, all bundled up. We actually saw a few snowflakes on our morning walk today.

Still Well Rested

It has now been three nights in a row of sleeping through the night, so I'm pretty certain that we have the best twins ever. Strangely, Kate has been more tired after 7 hours sleep than she has been in months - maybe her body is remembering that this is supposed to be normal. Actually, last night she was on call and went in multiple times for deliveries and is working the office this morning, so she may be a mere shell of her former self by the time she crawls home.

We had a good trip to Toronto yesterday. The physio showed us some daily stretches for Molly's feet as her ankles continue to be quite stiff. Nothing to be concerned about over the long term though. And the occupational therapist was really impressed with the progress of her hands. She's starting to grab for things, which should help the development of her hands over the coming weeks too.

On the T.O. trip, we managed to have brunch with Ben and then a visit with Tara and her not-so-little one. Korben is about the same size as Molly despite being only a month old! He seems like a fantastic baby.

The twins turn four months old today, so I'll try to take and post some photos later. I haven't had time to rake our leaves and as a result the garden looks gorgeous, so I'll try to get the kids outside this afternoon for some photos.

Well Rested

Lisa O. says I'm not supposed to talk about it in case of jinxes, but I'm not such a superstitious type. The kids both slept for 7 straight hours last night - from 11:15pm to 6:15am. Now, that's what I'm talking about.

First Political Rally

Since arriving in Orillia, we've now witnessed two cases of local people-led democracy triumphing. First, the hospital's board was forced to resign in the face of popular opposition to their autocratic governance. Now, the decision of city council to refuse to sell land to the school board for a new centrally located elementary school has been overturned. Very impressive for a pretty conservative little town. I brought the twins to the rally - probably a couple of hundred people, at least half of whom were kids. Here's the story in the local paper. And here's a link to a photo.

Kate's family might not be too impressed with the twins' first political rally - no riot police, no tear gas, and no agents provocateurs (although their was a suspicious looking 8 year old, armed with a sippy cup). And it may seem like a classic case of IMBY (in my backyard), to have a brand new school built two blocks from our house. But it's not just about self-interest. The issue is really about whether the downtown core will continue to be hollowed out, with shopping, housing and other investments going to the Big Box suburb (yes, our little town has big boxes and suburbs!), or whether a new school can help to revitalize the core and rehabilitate a pretty derelict piece of land.

Fall Photos

Here are a couple of shots of the kids in the backyard leaves yesterday and then in their autumn finest getting ready to go outdoors today. With this beautiful, warm autumn weather it's hard to believe that a month ago we were in the freezing snow of late summer Thunder Bay.

Jacob Bashing his Mobile

Cousin Sean put in a request for a video of Jacob, so here's one of him holding onto his bunny rattle and treating his mobile like a pinata. He appears oblivious to the cries of his sister.



Plus, here's a photo of the kids in some of their new hand-me-downs from Sam/Maeve/Sean/Erin.


And Jacob seems to have returned to breastfeeding (or at least he did this morning).

Big Anniversary

We're not big on remembering anniversaries in our family - fortunately that's true of both of us. Yesterday was the 10th anniversary of Kate and I being together. So, ten years ago this morning I was introducing her to Greg (and Martin, I believe) at breakfast in Ottawa. Greg was supposed to be visiting me that weekend, but I quickly told him he'd have to stay elsewhere when I found out that Kate could come down from Hamilton for the weekend.

So, I've known for exactly ten years that Kate was the one (she took a little longer to be convinced, not surprisingly). And this little twin project that we've embarked upon has only made me more certain of how great we are together and how much I love her.

I Am A Winner!

I won the weekly draw for a $10 gift certificate at the coffee place we go to every morning. May not seem like blog-worthy news, but I've never won any kind of draw in my life. Except possibly in grade 2 when my drawing of a moose won a prize at the school board art contest. My mother told me later (much later, to her credit) that I won based on a draw, not on merit. Which is surprising, considering my prodigious artistic talent.

In other news, after Kate's busy call shift on Sunday, Jacob seems to have lost interest in feeding from the breast. It seems he likes the easiness of the bottle, rather than having to work for his supper. This is causing no small amount of consternation and maternal-back-to-work-guilt. I think it's a phase that will pass, but we're concocting all sorts of schemes and strategies.

Meanwhile, Molly seems to have completely adjusted to wearing the boots and bar. She kicks her feet right up over her head, coos and chirps and smiles.

And, did I mention that I won $10?!

Missing Grandma

Jacob wins first prize in the Missing Grandma The Most contest. He howled much of the afternoon and part of this evening, and was only comforted by a walk outside in the brisk, autumn air, which is just how Lois calms him down. Tomorrow, once I've scarfed down the rest of her prize-winning carrot cake, I may commence howling too.

Home Alone

Kate's parents left early this morning so we have the house to ourselves for the first time in a couple of weeks. You know how at the end of a great holiday you always feel happy to arrive home. Well, it's similar for having great guests - you can still be happy about having the house to yourself again. I'll feel that way until dinner tonight when I realize I haven't thought about what to eat.

Kate was on 24-hour call shifts on Friday and Sunday plus in the O.R. this morning, and the whole thing went very smoothly despite her shifts being pretty busy. The kids are great - eating formula when necessary, sleeping pretty well at night. Last night they totally "twinned" me. Each of them slept 5-6 hours consecutively, but they managed to get out of synch enough so that I didn't get more than 2 hours in a row. But they're sleeping again now and I'm typing instead of napping, so I can't be too desperate.

1st Time in the Boots and Bar (III)

More of the series of photos from this morning.

9. Kate and I trying to put on the sandal for the first time. Molly was getting less pleased.


10. Boots and bar are on. Took us longer than she would have liked. Sucking on Kate's thumb for a little comfort. After this, she drank a couple of ounces of milk and fell right to sleep.


11. Molly woke up with a smile on her face. After her feed, she had some quiet time under her mobile. Nothing extraordinary in the video, but it shows a happy, if somewhat subdued Molly, a couple of hours after her cast removal and 1st time in her boots and bar. You can hear Jacob doing his "agoo" chorus in the background, singing along to the Mozart (there's definitely more classical music when their momma is around).

1st Time in the Boots and Bar (II)

More of the series of photos from this morning.

5. In the bathtub, getting all the folds and creases clean.


6. Nice close-up in the tub. Still perfectly calm.


7. Jacob looking on from Papa's arms.


8. Ready for the boots.

1st Time in the Boots and Bar (I)

Here's a series of photos from this morning - Molly's 1st time in the boots and bar.

1. Happy, oblivious, before photo. Still in her pj's.


2. About to have her casts removed.


3. During cast removal. Not a single whimper or grimace...yet.


4. Casts are off. Don't worry, the orange stuff is just part of the casting process. It will wash off. You can see that her feet are a little over-corrected, into an outwards-pointing direction.

Election Day in Ontario

Jacob managed to cry from the moment we walked into the local baptist church to vote, right up until when we left the building. Good to see that he shares my general discomfort with organized religion.

The main difference between Ontario politics and BC politics seems to be that here we have a choice of three horrendous mainstream parties, compared with two out west. Today's choice was between a Conservative party that apparently missed the Scopes monkey trial, a Liberal party that brings smarmy to a whole new level (witness McGuinty's creepy grin at the end of his campaign ads), and the NDP who seem to have been led by the same dead-man-walking since I left Ontario ten years ago. So I voted Green, and more importantly, in favour of electoral reform.

Big Day Tomorrow

Molly gets out of her casts tomorrow and into her spiffy, new boots and bar, which arrived in the mail last week. This site has nice photos of the boots (which are more like sandals). We don't have to go down to Toronto as we can remove the casts ourselves and then put her in the boots. She'll wear them for 23 hours a day until around the end of the year and then overnight until she's 3 or 4 years old. This will really be the first time that she can bend and kick from her knees, which is bound to be quite a strange sensation for her, not to mention that her feet will be joined together by the bar. So, we may have an challenging couple of days while she's adjusting.

The house is a little quieter and far less interesting as Dan, Alison and the cousins left yesterday morning. So, we're down to two houseguests again, Kate's parents.

How're You Sleeping???

This is definitely the most popular question we get. I swear that some people are hoping to hear horror stories. The truth is that it's not too bad. The kids are settling down faster and staying down longer. We typically get them to sleep between 7 and 8pm. Then at around 11pm we give them the dream feed (yes, I am planning to get a bumper sticker stating "The Dream Feed Saved My Life"). Around 3:30 to 4:30, Jacob wakes up for a feed then goes right back to sleep. Molly sometimes wakes up at the same time. Then they both sleep until about 7am (closer to 8am today, possibly due to the turkey in the breastmilk). So, we're definitely not complaining.

In a very Kennedy-on-Thanksgiving move, I played touch football this morning. Most of me still feels 25 years old - my hamstrings, not so much.

Our guys are no longer the littlest babies we know as in the past few weeks Shauna had her 3rd, Tara her 2nd and Lindsey her 1st. Congratulations to all!!

Molly video - Under the Mobile

Here's a video of Molly under her mobile. Kate added the red ring recently and you can see the results of Molly batting it accidentally. Check out her abs, lifting her casts no problemo. Also, listen for some squeals of delight.



Plus here's a pretty hilarious picture of Jacob. He doesn't usually look this goofy, but with expressions like this you can see why more people are saying he looks like me. Poor kid.

Full House

Haven't had much time for posting as we've got a full house leading up to Thanksgiving. Kate's parents are here plus Alison and her two little ones. Four kids under two - and for a brief period yesterday afternoon, all were napping concurrently. Now that's a feat.

You be the judge on who has lost more marbles, me or Kate:

Me: At the grocery store on the weekend I kept rocking the cart back and forth to ensure the kids stayed asleep. Only the kids were at home, so I was soothing the hamburger patties.

Kate: In the Operating Room on Monday, during a surgery, when the music came on Kate began swaying back and forth, again to comfort the kids.