Parry Sound photos

Here are a couple of photos that Scott took while we were at their place in Parry Sound the weekend before last. Kate with Jacob and me with Molly (in Helen's fantastic sweaters again).


Kate's home today for the first time in a week, after a busy work schedule plus a very hectic weekend on call. So, we're having a quiet family day at home.

The kids turned 8 months old yesterday, if you can believe it!

And for anyone reading this in Mexico (i.e. my parents), it's a frigid minus 20 here today.

Oscar Recap

My favourite moment was the Once song win. I loved them bringing Marketa back out for her speech, which was fantastic (some similar content to what the insufferable Russell Crowe said a few years ago, except she was sincere). As my friend Tiff would say, "I'm so proud of my guys!!". Also liked Diablo Cody's win for the Juno screenplay. And the fact that all the winners were likable - no blowhards like James Cameron, Halle Berry, or the aforementioned Crowe.

Oscar Night

For the first time since we were in Kenya, we haven't seen any of the leading Oscar contenders - No Country, There Will Be Blood, and Atonement. I didn't think Michael Clayton or Eastern Promises offered much that hasn't been done before. Marion Cotillard was overrated (enough of the musical biopics already - how did Edith Piaf, Ray Charles and Johnny Cash all end up with the same lifestory?). I was impressed with Casey Affleck in Jesse James and in his brother's movie Gone Baby Gone.

My favourites of 2007 were Once, Juno, Away From Her and The Wind That Shakes The Barley. Plus, funniest movie was Superbad and best action/sequel was Bourne Ultimatum.

My Dad's Not Like The Others

Here's a little kids' story I wrote on the weekend.

Click here to get to my new documents website and then click on the title, My Dad's Not Like The Others. It's not illustrated yet because, frankly, my drawing is even worse than my writing!

It's my first effort, so it's obviously not The Gruffalo just yet.

Who Needs To Crawl?

Using the slither and the rollover, Molly makes her way over to Jacob and the much-treasured stacking cups. Who needs to crawl when you've got this kind of mobility?

Domestic Crisis

What's the worst thing that could happen in a twin household?

- Internet going down, thus cutting me off from the outside world? Nope, I'm still connected.
- Running out of baby food? Not in our 24/7 shopping universe.
- Snow going unshoveled leading our postal worker to miss our house several days in a row and then leaving me a nasty note? Not really a problem - what, I'm supposed to be sad that my pizza flyer and bank statement got delayed? Please.
- Washing machine breaking? Yup, that's our crisis du jour.

We had a washing machine induced flood at the beginning of the week. Then, due to my unflagging and irrational belief that technical problems will just go away, we had a second, more biblical flood a couple of days later. And the laundry pile grows higher.

Who knows how many loads of laundry get done per week around here, but it's a lot. Orders of magnitude more than when I was in undergrad and did a few loads per semester at mom's house. Is that why we all wore Drakkar in university - to cover the delicate odour of underwashed clothing?

So I trekked down to Barrie this morning and bought us a new washing machine. Delivery next Friday. Crisis averted. We're off to Parry Sound for a weekend of cottage life. And I'm bringing lots of dirty laundry.

Video Reaction to Kate Dancing

In this video, the kids are watching their mother dance back and forth, performing spins and leaping arabesques. They're clearly impressed and amazed with her balletic genius.

Okay, in truth Kate was at work and they're just watching my hand waving. But the video is far more amusing if you picture Kate dancing.

Thirteen Hours Away

Friday night was our first time away from the kids together - we went out to Horseshoe Valley resort, complete with fancy dinner, jacuzzi, fireplace, pay-per-view movie, blueberry pancake breakfast in bed, etc. It was fantastic. The challenge was to talk about subjects other than the twins. So, we worked our way through: remembering what life was like before twins, wondering what life would consist of now without twins, and how unfortunate everyone is who doesn't have our twins. Having made our best effort, we returned to the most fascinating topic - how great Molly and Jacob are.

Here are a few photos from my folks' visit (they seem to have survived the night of babysitting):
- Dad keeping Jacob away from the hot tea

- Molly seems to have developed quite the giggle during Grammy's visit. Who knows what shenanigans transpired while we were away.

- Strained peas, glorious peas

- My dad earning his supper - crazy amounts of snow

- Kate's homemade object permanence/ball-drop toy

- Dad appears as transfixed by the chandelier as Molly is

The Secret Lives of Twins

Maybe this series of photos is only of interest to me, but I love it (for the uninitiated, Molly is on the left, telling the secrets and delivering the kisses)...





Apparently we had 40 cm of snow today. I say "apparently" because my parents are visiting and they did all the shoveling. Score. We didn't make it out for coffee this morning though, as even my intrepid stroller couldn't brave these snow mounds/drifts. Kate's on call again tonight, but tomorrow is our first night away from the twins together. We're heading to Horseshoe Valley resort for a night in a hotel while my parents keep an eye on the little ones. Our challenge is to come up with topics of conversation that don't involve the twins. I think we can do it.

Sad Week For Sports Heroes

I don't write much about sports here - perhaps because my audience isn't exactly ESPN nation. But this has been a bad week for my two favourite athletes of all time.

Guy Lafleur was my childhood hero, leading the Habs to Cups in my first four years living in Montreal. There has never been a more electrifying hockey player. Gretzky and Lemieux were clearly better players, but nowhere near as exciting. And he did it smoking 2 packs a day, which somehow seemed cooler back then. And the hair flying behind him as he streaked down the wing. He was something. And this week he's been charged with lying to cover-up for his apparently ne'er-do-well son. Put me on the jury, Guy, and I'll wear my #10 jersey enroute to an acquittal. As an aside, I do think that Ovechkin is a contender for the throne, plus he can throw his weight around.

And Tom Brady, contender for greatest QB of all time, best clutch performer since Montana , and saviour of my previously sad-sack Patriots, failed to perform last night against an inferior Giants team. I can't believe I'm waking up to a world where the Manning brothers have won two Super Bowls in a row.

Molly's Hands and Jacob's Foot

Please keep sending responses to my questions in the previous post. Thanks.

We went to the local physio and occ. therapist yesterday to talk about Molly's hands, which have improved dramatically over the past 7 months, but her left thumb remains mostly tucked against her palm. We decided to try this fingerless glove or soft brace for a while to see if it helps. You can see in this photo that it encourages her to grab using her thumb. The brace doesn't seem to bother her at all (I was worried that it was too bulky and would lead to her only using her right hand).


Perhaps eight meals a day are not enough for a growing girl. Here's a video of Molly going after a mildly protesting Jacob's foot.