We Don't Like Avocado

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!