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We're late again with this Blog! Okay, I'm late again blame no one but myself. We've all been feeling a little under the weather these past few days, starting with Ivan and ending with me. Mathilde and Alexis didn't seem to suffer much from their colds, probably thanks to the antibodies that they receive from me. I actually don't mind them being exposed to a cold here and there for that reason. What does worry me, however, is the H1N1 virus. They would probably make out fine if they were to contract it, but it's that 'probably' that keeps me from taking any chances.
We are hoping to get out to some Canada Day celebrations tomorrow with our girls. Since our visit with Grammy and Opa, getting out hasn't been too much of a chore and Lexi and Tilly seem to like it. They stay awake longer and seem genuinely interested in the people and things around them. I try to get out for a walk every day with them, but the scenery is getting old. They like Rona, the Farmer's Market, the grocery store, and last weekend, they enjoyed breakfast with us at the restaurant down the street. I can't tell you how fantastic it was to get out first thing in the morning, walk down the street and have a really delicious breakfast all together as a family. Okay, it was just really nice to get out and do a grown up thing. I can't wait to do more of those. Of course, those are prime Swine Flu contracting spots aren't they? Argh, you can't win.
We had a wonderful visit with Hal last week. Make that Uncle Hal. Thank you again for taking the time away from your own family to spend it with your neices. I can't seem to find the words to express just how special I think you are for doing that. Certainly one of the hilights from the visit would have to be the introduction of avocado into the girls' diets. For those fortunate enough not to have been present, it went something like this. Ivan found an avocado, which I had purchased for Mexican Night, hidden away in a cupboard. By this time it was plenty ripe. Hal and Ivan thought it was surely too ripe and should be tossed. I, on the other hand determined that it was fine and that we should absolutely feed it to the girls. (You know, suddenly I see it so much more clearly; the logic in that was probably flawed.) Anyway, Ivan mashed it up as per my instructions and I went about spooning it into Mathilde's eager mouth. I should note that the avocado looked and tasted perfectly fine. I'm not that mean. The first bite seemed to go down a treat, so I moved on to Miss Alexis. She managed all right, so I offered her a second taste. Here is where things took a turn for the worse. Alexis got a strange, twisty look on her face, gagged and threw up her cereal, squash and the offending avocado. Ivan and I quickly rescued her from her high chair lest she actually choke and she was transported to the bathroom for clean up. So what does Mama do? Throw out the evil vegetable-fruit? Nope, she spoons another load of avocado into the other child's mouth. Mathilde, not to be outdone and pardon the expression, twins the event right down to the facial expression. Ahhh....It will probably be a really long time before we try avocado again. Sorry Uncle Hal.
Apart from all of the excitement, the girls are zooming along a mile a minute. Mathilde now says Ba Ba Ba, Ma Ma Ma etc and loves her new found vocabulary. It's especially fun to mimick her and wait for her to do it back. Both girls are sitting up for greater and greater periods and they are very involved with their toys. Well, all objects, really. They still love people who approach them with smiles and River is still their very best friend. He can make a Gully go from crying to laughing in 2 seconds flat. Somehow I think he knows it too. He's not terribly interested in them unless they are having breakfast or supper though. Wait until they get to the stage where they actually drop their food!
They love noses and beards and hair. Sometimes Alexis will stroke Mathilde's hair ever so gently. Mathilde on the other hand just loves to grab it and hang on! For those of you keeping track, they are not sleeping all night. I'm usually up twice through the night and then ridiculously early in the morning. Sometimes I can get them to go back to sleep. I've stopped worrying about it. There are two of them and they are babies. That doesn't make them bad, nor does it make us bad parents, that's just life. Anybody who's says differently either have never had twins or have short memories. Hey, that felt good. I might actually even believe it!
Anyway, I have some free time (I hope) while the Gullies are napping. I'm off to do something selfish like brush my hair, or rub some lotion on my feet. I wish you all a wonderful Canada Day tomorrow and hope that you can get out and enjoy some of the offerings in your town. Ivan and I are very keen to see what the National Capital has to offer. No, we're not going to Ottawa :) All the best!
Well, we've survived the Intermediate Mine Warfare course, and I must say, it was far more difficult the second time around! Okay, to explain...it was Ivan's turn to take this 5 week international course. Having already done it, I knew what to expect when Ivan approached me about doing it this Spring. I knew there would be about two weeks where he would have to work late and I would have to figure out how to bath the girls and put them to bed on my own. But what I didn't anticipate, was how hard it would be on Ivan to miss out on seeing his Gullies.
It makes for a long day, that's for sure. We'd get up around 7am when Ivan left for work. Most mornings he would at least get to kiss them while one nursed and the other lounged in the bed beside me watching Canada AM (that and A Baby Story are all they get to watch). Once everyone is fed and changed we head downstairs so I can gobble down some cereal, feed River and then get the girls' breakfast together. They have cereal, either oatmeal or barley, and now I also give them some homemade apple sauce. (They prefer Gala). Once they've eaten their fill, I quickly make up some bottles of formula for their bed time snack, dig out some purees from the stash in the freezer for their supper and do a quick clean up. Then I make a cup of coffee and we settle on the floor for some baby play action. We play for about 15 minutes and usually I have sleepy eyes and grumpy coughs indicating it's time to head back to bed.
The girls normally nap for about 45 minutes in the morning, during which I shower, do laundry, catch up on e-mail (Facebook) or I blog. Once they're awake, they get their vitamins, have their bums changed, faces washed, teeth "brushed" and they get dressed for the day. While one is on the change table, the other sits in the rocking chair beside the change table (for now, probably not much longer) with a toy. Then I carry them both downstairs for their next meal. River is ever present in this evolution.
After the girls have been fed, I check their diapers again (normally they are full), and then I put their sun screen on, hats, jackets or whatever the weather dictates, load them into the stroller, get River ready, put my shoes, sunscreen etc on and we head out the door for an hour walk. They may or may not sleep during their walk.
When we get home, I unload them one at a time and settle them into their swings or what have you so that I can wolf down some lunch. Then we might play a bit more, or I might vacuum, hang laundry or whatever until it's time to feed them again. After they're fed, we try for a second nap. This one usually lasts an hour and I relax during this time by knitting, or lately making cards (I'm no expert at this by any means!). After this, the girls get up and I'll get the supper prep done (if Ivan's coming home) while the girls are in their high chairs watching. Lately, Ivan hasn't been home, so we've used this time to play and practice sitting up and rolling over.
By 5pm, it's time to feed Alexis and Mathilde their supper. They get rice cereal and usually two vegetables. So far they've had squash, peas, carrots and sweet potatoes. All of the are their favourites!
Because of the sunscreen, we're bathing them more often. If it's a bath night, I take them into the bathroom (after setting it up), put one in a bouncy chair and then bathe the other. Then we switch. Once that's done, they get a bit more play time while I find something resembling supper and then I heat their formula. We go upstairs and I put Alexis in her rocking chair and she sucks her thumb while I feed Mathilde. Then we switch and the girls get put to bed for the night. Whether they stay that way is another story.....
So it's been busy. Okay, it's always busy, it's just been busier than usual. We've also had a tremendous amount of fun. So far the sixth month has been a really exciting and social time and I wake up looking forward to greeting each new day. That said, I'm so glad it's the weekend! Happy Father's Day to all the Dads, and of course to my wonderful husband. I don't think anyone could ask for a more devoted Papa.
As I finish this entry I realize that I should have written about Ivan and the Gullies. And part of me wants to erase what I've written and start over. Time is too short for that though. I'll just say instead that we love you very much, Ivan. And I do thank you for all that you do for us. It must be hard to have to leave your family each day and head out the door to work. When you come home it must be like entereing a secret world, one which constantly evolves withought you. I think it takes a very strong person to be able to set your resolve to penetrate that world and include yourself. Mathilde and Alexis are so much better for it, and I have an equal partener to help me make the hardest and most important decisions I've ever had to make. We appreciate you, Papa. Come home soon so we can get our Weekend ON!!!
You are 6 months old today. And I love you so very much. What big girls you have become, with so much personality and so much presence in our house and in our lives. When you go to sleep I miss you. Papa has been working so late this week and he has missed you terribly. I can tell by the way he drinks you in when he does get a chance to see you. It's hard for me to remember what life was like before you came along. It certainly couldn't have been as fulfilling as it is now. What did we live for before you? I wonder this because each breath I take, I take for you.
Mathilde, you are such a nice girl. Maybe nice isn't the best word, because to say a baby is nice, implies that a baby could be mean. Ridiculous. So what is the word to describe how sweet you are? You smile at your sister when she cries, and you engage yourself so fully with people and yes, even objects around you. I often watch you chat with your toys and attempt to make friends with that ever elusive dog. You are a social creature.
Mathilde, you love to eat and try new food. You've even learned to chew by watching me eat my breakfast in the mornings. Today you chewed your mashed banana while locking your eyes on mine the entire time. Yes, you did a great job!
You would rather share a bed with us than sleep alone, which is bit of a challenge. The real problem here is that I would also rather share our bed with you than have you sleep alone! At least at 4am that's how it feels.
You are funny. Sometimes Papa and I call you our Ham Sandwich. You flirt by scrunching your shoulders up, squeezing your eyes shut, smiling and squealing. You are constantly engaging us with your facial expressions and that beautiful and sweet smile. Your personality seems to be firming up, and if what I've seen is any indication of what is to become, you may be a very social person who loves deeply and is very affected by the actions of others. You are sensitive, to be sure, but not overly. When you are not happy, you are very easy to bring around. And you are very nearly always happy when you wake up to greet the day.
And finally, Mathilde, you give the best hugs. You are so snugly and cuddly. Thank you for being you.
Alexis, if all parents had you for a first baby, they would be lulled into having a hundred more. You found your thumb, and it seems to fix just about anything and everything. This makes you a very easy going baby. You sleep until you wake up and then if nobody comes to get you, you go to sleep again. Often I hear you entertaining yourself in your crib by banging your legs and feet against the wall and bars of your crib. You are very vocal too. You babble and scream and make raspberries. You suck in your breath and cough and even for a short period you did a mean Darth Vader impersonation. I thought this was very odd until I heard River walk by you one day panting. Maybe you were mimicking him?!
You enjoy all foods, but are not a big eater yet. Often we have to coax your thumb out of your mouth in order to get the food in. You want to be in charge of the spoon, and when I let you, you eat very well! It won't be long before I'm forced to just give you pile of food and let you go to it.
Alexis, you don't seem to play with your toys so much as inspect, analyze and compare them. Today I watched you in your swing as you held a toy in either hand. You were shaking each toy and looking back and forth at them as you did so. You don't smile when you're "playing", in fact you are very serious. You seem to be trying to figure out the world, while Mathilde seems happy just to be in it.
Alexis, you love music and rhythm. You love to be held while we dance, and you are often banging your foot or a toy to the beat of whatever is on the radio. All I have to do is strum a chord on the guitar and you are smiling. You love it when I sing, so I sing to you often. When we go for walks sometimes you lose patience and so I make up silly nonsense songs until you stop crying.
You have a funny, independent way about you. You are happy to be held on a lap, but you are not so eager for a cuddle. We referred to you as the Non-Bendy one for a few weeks because you were adamant that you would have your legs as straight as can be. And to your credit, you were quick to bear your weight on your legs, you enjoy your tummy time and look to be on the verge of crawling. You have energy to burn, and have a quick, light manner.
But for all your seriousness, Alexis, you are incredibly sweet. You always have a smile for Mama and Papa, and you have huge inviting eyes. I feel so lucky to know you and can't wait to know you better.
So, Gullies, congratulations on meeting this huge milestone! Think of all of the things that you have learned to do! It's incredible. I am so happy to have had this time with you, and I am so excited to share the future with you. You are so good, and we are so extraordinarily proud of you girls. Thank you.
My Sister In Law, Toni, asked the question. I was asked it by someone last night as well. So for those who don't know....When the Gullies were about two months old, they started to make this funny vocalization when they were sucking on their pacifiers. Both of them would get a very serious look on their faces as though the were about to lecture us on something that we'd done, and very clearly and very loudly say "Gully, gully, gully, gully!" It turns out that my brother, Jonathan, used to do the same thing! We just picked it up and started to refer to them as the Gullies. Part of it too is that the term "The Twins" has always had a very negative connotation for us. We knew from very early on that we wanted our daughters to be unique and independant from one another and one way of doing that was to not refer to them as a unit (The Twins). Now here's where you say, "Ah! But The Gullies is a unit term!". You'd be right. We ended up doing it anyway. I do try to refer to them by their many names (Mathilde, Tilly, Tilda, Matty Jo, Alexis, Lexi, Ali, Lex, Lexis, Lex Lou etc) rather than as one term as much as I can though. Sometimes brevity is necessary and the term Gully is one of endearment. We still dislike the "The Twins" by the way. It really rubs me the wrong way when I hear it. Sorry if I've offended anyone. (I am aware that they are twins though!)
Toni pointed out once that it's funny when we end up doing the very things that we set out not to do. Ivan and I swore we would not dress our children alike, but sometimes I find myself dressing all three of us in a similar manner. This, as it turns, has more to do with what the temperature is outside. Ivan and I also dress alike. Never on purpose, but more often then not we'll be out and realize that we're wearing the same shoes, pants and shirt. This is obviously because we share the same lifestyle and maybe is also in part due to the fact that we wear a uniform to work every day too.
We also said that we would never let them cry. I think I even made a negative comment about Dr Ferber in an earlier post. Now, I've never even read his work, only summaries of it and I "knew" enough to judge his methods and everyone on the planet who followed them. We soon went from never letting them cry themselves to sleep to often letting them cry for a bit to see if they'll fall asleep. Guess what? They do! I absolutely apologize to anyone out there that may have read that post. Likely though, if you're anything like me, you'll have done and said practically the same thing yourself. Thank you Toni, for reminding me that we're human and in the nicest way, that parenting is something you learn on the way. You don't know it all from day one. Well, you might think you do! Thank goodness for flexibility.
Well, I've got a Gully (Lexi Gully) waiting for her lunch. Mathilde Gully is still sleeping away. She's getting harder and harder to put down these days. (She does a lot of crying.) I may or may not have a bad habit of bringing her into bed with me in the middle of the night. Hmmm...I think I had some choice opinions about that too....! Well, you reap what you sow, right? Who wouldn't love a warm, snuggly gully in the middle of the night though? Have a wonderful week everyone!
