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.

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.