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.