Post from Saturday

Molly woke up this morning (Saturday) with a fever and no energy. We took her to the emerg as a precaution, but it's nothing serious. She's definitely not her self though. Hoping she gets a good nap in and wakes feeling a bit better.

Here are some photos my mom took last week.

Jacob's first strawberry

Molly chowing down on a banana

Jacob in the swing


Molly in the swing


The percussion section accompanying Kate

Mom and I with the kids in backpacks

Part of the "adopted grandparent" breakfast crew - Jack & Ruth

More of the "adopted grandparents" including Toni & Dottie-Jean

New furniture

Just to prove that not all of our furniture is built by slave-labouring children in impoverished countries, here's a photo of the kids' new table and chairs - picked up at the local farmer's market last weekend.

Some Stuff I'm Excited About This Week

• Summertime. Spring seemed to last about half an hour and we're into full-on summer (and not a moment too soon). This was apparently the hottest spot in Ontario this past weekend, reaching 30C. The ice melted on the lake in about 24 hours. Everyone seems more smiley.
• Rum & coke. I'm having one right now. Drinking alone seems less problematic in the summer heat.
• Swings. More specifically, twins faces on the swings. I can't imagine what it would be like to experience a swing for the very first time, but I get a sense from their joyful expressions.
• Strawberries. More specifically, strawberry juice all over Jacob's face. I can't imagine what it would be like to experience a strawberry for the very first time, but I get a sense from the red smeared all over his face.
• Visits from mom. Our garden is tidied, the house is cleaned, my spirits are lifted, the twins are happy and stimulated. Not bad for a 5-day visit.
• Hockey playoffs. The Habs almost broke my heart, but salvaged the series against the Bruins. And the twins are sensing the excitement as I hum them the Hockey Night in Canada theme all day. Which makes a break from me singing them Take Me Out to the Ballgame (still the only lullabye I can remember all the words to)
• Molly's feet. We went to Sick Kids today for her first checkup since before Xmas and the verdict was that she's perfect (which we already suspected).
• Entourage. We're into Season Two and loving this fluffy, fun HBO series. And Ari the agent has to be one of the best characters on television. Kate says I'm too old to be part of an entourage but I'm not giving up the dream just yet. Now I just need a friend with some talent or good looks.
• Roddy Doyle. Always one of our favourites (Barrytown trilogy is a classic and Paddy Clarke is on my top ten of alltime list). I'm in the middle of Paula Spencer, the sequel to the remarkable Woman Who Walked Into Doors. The voice is harsh and real and the book is definitely a recommendation thus far.
• Clapping and waving. Jacob falls asleep clapping his hands, wakes up clapping his hands, and will do so anytime during the day if you say the word clap. He also gets pretty excited about waving and saying something that sounds a lot like "hi".
• Molly's spineramas. Neither of them has perfected forward locomotion yet, but Molly keeps getting more and more adept at going around in circles.

I'll post some of mom's photos later when I get a chance.

Happiest Kids Ever

We went to storytime at the library this morning and the librarian said that she's never seen two such happy kids in her whole career. They were pretty excited that there was clapping and tickling and puppets and other babies to look at. The nice thing about your kids receiving compliments is that the nature/nuture debate is really a win-win. Either, "you're right, they do have a spectacular genetic makeup". Or, "you're right, I am doing a wonderful job of raising them".

Here's a photo of the kids standing and playing with their activity block. A video of the same scene is at the bottom of this blog entry.

Molly with a big yawn

Jacob being very serious about his play

Doctor Check-Up

The kids had an easy doctor's appointment yesterday - no shots at nine months and no other issues, although they both have nasty coughs and runny noses. They're sleeping well at night despite feeling a little ragged. Molly is continuing to have occasional difficulty getting down - nightmare-like screaming about one night every couple of weeks, which persists throughout the evening. She gets quite inconsolable, which is quite a sad experience for her parents.

They're both a bit above average for height and a bit below for weight - long and lean just like their father.... used to be before he discovered the dual temptresses of pizza and beer.

Here are a few shots of the kids helping me out with the indecipherable Ikea instructions.

Spring Has Finally Sprung

Still a fair amount of snow in the backyard but... birds are chirping, I went for my first outdoor run (the twins seem a little heavier on the uphills than they did last summer), the basement is still taking on water, the sun is shining, etc.

Jacob is mastering the arts of clapping (see below) and waving, much to the delight of all the adopted grandparents at our morning coffee place. They're both big on sitting on the edge of their beds. And assisted standing is coming along nicely (and is guaranteed to brighten Jacob's mood under even the most dire circumstances). The kids survived their first rides in shopping carts yesterday, at Ikea, where their parents bought all sorts of items they hadn't realized they needed.



And here's a video of the clapping boy. Or is it a wave? No, definitely a clap.

Still Shoveling

Not snow this time. Our basement flooded yesterday so I used the snow shovel to bail it out until we got our hands on a pump and a wet vac. It sounds like everyone's having the same problem here - the local paper even ran an advisory that people in low-lying areas should be ready to evacuate. No damage in our basement so no harm done. And the kids slept soundly all night while I was off at a poker night.

Active Twin Photos

We had a great visit this weekend with Seb & Sophie (and their parents), but I neglected to take any photos. The big melt is on (most of our birdbath has reappeared) so I can actually imagine a time when we'll be able to go to a park, picnic, ice cream, etc. I'm ready. Molly was up most of last night - not sure if it's more teeth, tummy, or what. We were doing really well on sleep until the past few nights. For Earth Hour the other night, we turned off all the lights at 8pm, failed to stay awake beyond 9pm and slept right through until 6am. Definitely a record for the past 9 months.

- Twins doing the hula hoop.

- Molly sporting a communist / old-school motorcyle helmet look

- Molly about to devour her ball

- Jacob loving the soccer ball