Three Unrelated Questions

I'm looking for answers to three big questions...

1. Our guys are almost too big and too squirmy to continue using the change table. When parents change their babies on beds, the floor, other random surface do you always use a change pad? If so, do you leave them (and diapers and wipes) in various locations around the house?

2. I finally saw Away From Her earlier this week and thought it was really well done - moving and touching without being maudlin and filled with good performances especially Gordon Pinsent (much more so than Julie Christie, who is beautiful but her performance wasn't nearly as nuanced as Pinsent's). Anyway, if Julie Christie's alzheimers is progressing as the movie demonstrates (can't find her way home, doesn't recognize people, etc.), how is she able to sustain a new love interest? How can she remember the new guy, even after a lengthy separation? It's coming close to ruining the movie for me.

3. Nearly every self-respecting mother I talk to claims to have made their own baby food. I'm in the grocery store yesterday and jars of organic baby food are selling for 57 cents. So, why would I make my own?
- Nutrition? There are no ingredients other than the vegetable and water in the jar.
- Safety? The risk of feeding contaminated food to your baby is astronomically low. The risk of me contaminating the food at home is pretty low.
- Cost? Pretty insignificant, at least at the low quantities the kids are eating now.
- Make me feel like I'm being a good parent? Seems like a stretch.

Photos from NB

It's been a little hectic here since our return on Sunday - Kate was on call Monday, she caught a nasty-but-apparently-short-lived flu bug, our stroller had a flat (fixed with a team effort tonight), plus the usual rigamarole of twins. All of that is a lengthy excuse for forgetting to call my mom yesterday on her birthday. I called today, but really, how many times does a woman turn 39 and I still managed to forget it. Oops.

Our New Brunswick trip was fantastic despite its brevity. We've lived together before, but it's a little different with four kids now underfoot (six if you count the day that Mike and Jo visited). Even with the excitement of their cousins, Molly and Jacob slept well (early risers though - where did that gene come from?). The cold spell kept us indoors for most of the week, but we did make it to the Moncton and Dieppe farmers' markets, coming away with a birdfeeder and two sleepsacks.

Here are some photos of the trip:
- Alison reading to Jacob, Maeve & Sam

- Maeve trying on Molly's fleece and toque - bigger blue eyes than the Grinch's Cindy Lou

- Molly's cheeks keep getting more fantastically chubby

- Jacob looking a little concerned

- Al and Maeve

- Molly's killer half-smile. She makes you earn it. Alison says she looks like a perfect chickpea.

- Maeve and Jacob (flying the Habs colours in the middle of Bruin country)

- Our guys looking cuddly in blue fleeces

The Little Hobbitses

The kids now get 3 solid meals a day (cereals, fruits, veggies) in addition to the breast/bottle, so they're enjoying a brief period in their lives when they get 8 meals and 2-3 naps per day. That won't happen again until they're teenagers. They slept for 11 hours last night, while Kate was working at the hospital. Looking after them solo at night is definitely getting easier and easier!

Here are a couple of shots from before our NB trip, modeling their fantastic, new, knitted sweaters from Julia's mom.




And a very artistic one of me home feeding the kids.

First Flight and other excitement

We're in rural New Brunswick, visiting Dan and Al and the little cousins. The kids were awesome on their first flight - 1 1/2 hours is a nice short one to start with. Not a single cry and each slept for half the flight and ate for the other half. Snowstorm on the drive to the airport almost resulted in us missing the flight, but otherwise no excitement.

Other firsts in the past few days - 1st apple, 1st banana, 1st horses (I don't think they noticed them though).

I didn't bring my camera cord, so I'll put up some photos when we return home on Sunday.

January Photos

- Molly with her current favourite toy - a dancing ladybugs music box

- Sitting up twins - they're getting steadier by the day

- Serious Molly

- Smiley Molly

- Contemplative Jacob

- A race to the frog - Molly appears to be winning, but the faster she tries to go forward, the more she inches backward

- She's coming to get me

- And finally a video of Jacob playing keepaway from the imperturbable Molly. Proof that they're sitting quite well.

End of an Era

Regular readers of the blog will know that a biography of my past 6 1/2 months would be titled something like, "Twins Is Easy: How The Dream Feed, an All-Terrain Stroller and a Slow-Cooker Saved My Soul, My Sanity and My Stomache".

So, you'll understand the significance of our abandonment of the dream feed. The kids have been taking less and less milk during the 11pm dream feed, so the time was right to try without it. First attempt was last night, and the kids slept right through - eleven straight hours! Kate pointed out that this means she could start going to bed at 8pm. That's my party-girl wife.

Disappointments Since July

2007 was the best year of my life. In January we were in six European countries (I'm cheating by counting a drive-through of Monte Carlo) and that was still one of the less memorable months of the year. We moved to Orillia and bought this fantastic old house. The twins arrived, changing everything for the better. And I've had the chance to stay home with them, experiencing every moment of their quickly changing little beings. As a result, this blog has been an upbeat chronicle of a very happy time. So, for a little balance, here are some things that haven't turned out quite as I had hoped.

I thought I would have:

• Read more books. I was probably reading a dozen books a month through the first half of 2007. I've barely gotten through a handful since then but I'm hoping I've turned the corner. We've started reading aloud Nick Hornby's latest, Slam, and I'm reading Alberto Manguel's Massey Lectures on storytelling and hoping it provides me with some inspiration.
• Had more quality time with Kate. We are consumed with the kids, which is the most fantastic experience of all time, but it does mean we don't have as much time for hanging out and talking and doing other stuff.
• Run more. Not a single run since August. It's a good thing I'm breastfeeding twins - oops, that's Kate's fallback. There's a treadmill right behind me in this room and it hasn't been plugged in since we moved here. I am a horrible sloth.
• More e-mails and phone calls to friends. This blog is kind of my out-clause as it provides regular updates on my life but it's not much more personal than one of those year-in-review Christmas letters, so I have to do better.
• And in addition, I haven't:
• written word one of my Great American Novel (it's percolating though)
  
• studied any Mandarin (or Spanish or German for that matter)
  
• learned to swim (I can swim, but I can't, you know, really swim)
• taught the children to sign (can I admit publicly that I think this is actually a complete crock?)
• learned a musical instrument (all right, we're really low down on the list now - I really had no expectations of achieving this stuff)

6-Month Check-Up

The kids got their 6-month shots yesterday. Significant yelps when the needles went in, but they both settled down right away and no adverse reactions last night or today. They weighed in at 16lb 12oz and 15lb 8oz, with Jacob being the heavier. We're getting a referral to the local physio/OT to take a look at Molly's hands as her left thumb is still a bit tucked away. No other problems though.

Peeing in the Wind

My personal standards seem to have disintegrated somewhat over the past six months. Yesterday, during a diaper change, one of the kids managed to projectile pee right down the front of my shirt. I then had to debate whether it was worth changing my shirt:

"Am I going to see anyone later today? It doesn't seem to smell too badly. If I change it now one of the kids will just spit up on the new one so why bother. I haven't showered today so I probably smell worse than the pee. Etc." I did change my shirt but it was a narrow victory for the voice of hygiene.

I felt much better later when Kate related to me that during bathtime last week, one of the kids peeed (I do like the triple 'e' in that word even if spellcheck doesn't) of her father's side of the guest bed. She debated whether it was worth changing the sheets. She did, but it shows I'm not alone.

Back to the Routine

Kate is back to work today and her parents left this morning, so I'm back to flying solo with the kids. I went for a long walk with the stroller in the very warm, somewhat slushy weather this morning. The kids seem to have finally fully recovered from their colds, just in time for their 6 month shots on Thursday. A couple of times recently (including last night) Jacob has woken up at 3:30am, wide awake and uninterested in falling back to sleep - that makes for tired parents. We introduced barley cereal to their diet this weekend, which was met with enthusiasm. I can't wait to see their reaction to food that actually has some flavour.

The 12th Day of Christmas

We celebrated Christmas with Kate's parents last night. Here's a photo. The tree has since come down, so the Christmas season is officially over.


On Friday night I ran off to Toronto to hang with Greg, Jo and Jen, since Kate had back-up coverage with her parents' arrival. My first night away from the kids and it was a pretty fantastic mini-break. I blew an opportunity for a lengthy, uninterrupted sleep by staying up all night trouncing Greg at Madden 08. In honour of my visit to Leaf country, here's a shot of Molly representing the bleu, blanc et rouge.

Six Month Round-Up

Kate's back to work today after the holidays, and the kids are sleeping and it's -20C outside so what better to do than blog while I eat my lunch.

We were looking at some newborn photos of the twins over the holidays and couldn't believe how much they've grown and changed. I guess it sneaks up on you when you're with them every day. So, who do they seem to be at six months?

What Jacob Seems to Love:
- My sense of humour, especially the fake sneeze gag. I married Kate largely because she laughed at all my jokes. Ten years later I realize that half the time she's not actually laughing with me. Jacob is different - he legitimately thinks I'm hilarious.
- Solid food. Well, rice meal isn't terribly solid but he's sold on it and he's ready for more.
- Cuddles. Above all else he likes to be held, to have a shoulder or neck to nuzzle, and he doesn't seem too picky as to who the cuddlee may be.
- Bathtime. At first, he always seemed to sink, while Molly floated. But now this is one of his favourite times of the day. Kicking madly and splashing about and he doesn't seem to mind getting submerged occasionally.
- Books. Particularly trying to turn the pages himself. Favourites include Doggies and Spot the Dog.
- Eating his feet. Molly's physio said this is an important part of a baby's development, but it seems to be approaching an obsession with him. He also quite enjoys Molly's feet (again, don't ask)

What Molly Seems to Love:
- Dancing with her momma. Unfortunately, too often it's to Abba.
- Humouring me. She doesn't smile for just anyone, but when she feels like it she beams at me beneficently as though I'm one of her subjects. We always say that her first sentence is likely to be "don't treat me any differently than you would the queen".
- My dad's voice. When we were in Mtl for the holidays, she turned her head around and smiled at him every time he spoke. Gotta love the remnants of that Scottish burr.
- Tomatoes. Don't ask how she knows this or why this was her first food. But she loved it. Tough for me to understand, as a life-long tomato-despiser.
- Books. She pays attention from first word to last. Favourites include Big Red Barn and Hairy McLary. I'm pretty sure she's also enjoying the Nick Hornby book I'm reading to Kate.
- Being carried in the backpack. Much more interesting than being stuffed in the stroller.
- NFL football. She especially perks up when Tom Brady is leading the Pats to another victory. Of course we're opposed to babies watching television, but just the inane things like teletubbies and Baby Einstein, not important events like Hockey Night in Canada or Sunday afternoon football.