Molly's Formerly Club Feet

I went to Sick Kids yesterday with the kids for Molly's first check-up since November. The surgeon and resident were completely happy with her feet, so we won't need to return for a year.

It really is amazing that she started out like this at 2 weeks...

then went through casting from less than a month old...

to having her feet gradually corrected to the right position (about 3 months old)

to her first day out of casts and into boots and bar at 4 months

to her first day out of the boots and bar, just shy of 6 months

to her current, gorgeous, amazing, running, jumping, climbing self

We almost never even think about her feet anymore, and I don't think I've blogged about them more than a couple of times in the past year. The wonders of modern medicine, a great treatment program at Sick Kids, Molly's indomitableness (if that's a word), plus a decision on our part that if we don't treat it as an issue (we tried to nip in the bud any "poor Molly" comments) then it won't be an issue.

The Last Few Weeks

Here are some photos and snippets from the past two weeks:

1. Actual conversation, at the beginning of nap time. I stand by their door for a few minutes and then sit down just out of view.

J: Where Baba go?
M: In da car.
J: Baba in da car?
M: Da blue car.
J: Yah, da blue car.

Our car has become the blue car since we rented a silver car in Thunder Bay.

2. We had a fun trip to Thunder Bay. It snowed almost every day that we were there. Gotta love early May in northern Ontario. On the bright side, we did get to go on some lovely hikes and runs through the melting, boggy muskeg.

3. We're having a bad couple of weeks on the injury-front. I pulled both quadriceps playing soccer, which may put this weekend's 10km run in doubt. If I do run, at least it will provide a good excuse for why Kate beats me by 5 minutes. Jacob did a nasty faceplant on our concrete steps in front of the house (photo evidence below). And Molly took a dive while running down a ramp and cut her chin. Kate is fine.

4. We are beginning to master colours. We get blue every time, red most of the time, and green/yellow/purple/orange on a fluke.

5. Jacob doesn't stop talking from morning until night. I asked him what else he wanted for lunch the other day, and his rapid-fire response was "juice, cheese, cookies, apple sauce, TIPPY-TOES!!". Tippy-toes is his favourite thing to say.

6. We have an agreement in place to sell our BC property, but the buyer has until the end of the month to lift the conditions so we're holding our breath.

7. We're off to Montreal tonight for the long weekend.

And some photos:
- On papa's lawn tractor in T-Bay

- Jacob's not one to let a little head injury stand between him and a bowl of ice cream

- and he seems equally enthusiastic about a slice of my birthday cake

- Molly demonstrating her skills with a fork

Weekend in snowy Thunder Bay

We're leaving for the airport in a few hours. Will report back early next week.

Apples Falling Close to the Tree

I suppose it won't be surprising that my children are blessed with extraordinary athletic talent. Around here we think it's a little crass to brag, but seriously, check out the hand-eye coordination on my two 22-monthers!!!

And in other sporting news, I'm still hobbling around like an 80 year-old after the combo of Sunday soccer and a Monday morning leg-destroying run with Kate. So, with my athletic career apparently on the downward trajectory it's time to put all the pressure on the kids to fulfill my unrequited dreams.

The Week of Chris

If Seinfeld's Costanza had the Summer of George, then I'm having the Week of Chris. Babysitters for 2-3 hours on three separate days, so I got in 3 long runs, plenty of downtime and even fixed two kitchen appliances that have been broken for at least 6-12 months (oven door handle and dishwasher door spring mechanism). Won at poker on Tuesday night, helping to pay for said babysitters. We're having dinner at Scott and Julia's tonight. I'm going to London for a round of golf on Saturday. Returning home in time for first soccer game of the season on Sunday. I'm telling you, this stay-at-home dad thing is tough.

Here's Molly wearing her new-to-us jacket, commemorating the end of a sad season for the emotionally-fragile Habs.

And here's a video from Kate of the kids learning to wash their own hands at the sink.

Love Those Boots

Not sure if this counts as a six-word phrase, but when we said, "Come on guys, let's go get our shoes on", Molly replied "Maya shoes off, Maya BOOTS on". She would sleep in those boots if she had a choice in the matter.

Summer's Here...

...but that doesn't mean we've finished raking last autumn's leaves yet.

The kids watched half of the 1st period of the Habs loss with us last night. Then this morning, Jacob pointed at the black screen of the tv and said "where da hockey go?". I hope I'm not saying the same thing about Montreal's season next week.

We're also getting into the summer sports. So here's Jacob's 1st ever attempt at t-ball. My mother likes to say that it took me 50 swings to make contact when I played t-ball at age 6 (my memory is wildly divergent on this, as I recall making the all-star team, but whatever), so I think he's ahead of his genes.

And here's Molly. She may have a slight edge in the raw talent department.