Sock Monsters

Greetings from Quebec City once more! We are all very well here, settling into the glorious Fall weather and enjoying the girls and their antics every day. We had a fairly busy weekend. Mathilde and Alexis were invited to their first birthday party ever and I would say that they enjoyed themselves very much! Thank you to Anna and Maria for sharing their special day(s) with the Gullies. They enjoyed playing with someone else's toys for a change, and even got to have a veggie burger and some chocolate and carrot cake. They really loved watching the 'older' kids run around and some of the adult guests took turns jostling Mathilde about, which she just adored. After we left the party, we went over to another friend's place to return the baby swing that he loaned to us, and his daughter, Zoey, now three, handed over a whole box of her toys for the girls to use! They enjoyed meeting the little dog, Puppy, and very friendly cat, Kitty, who for some reason sat entirely still while the girls pulled their fur. Puppy even had his tongue and face fur in Mathilde's vice like grip for a minute before being rescued by Ivan. Silly thing even came back for more! We had such a wonderful sleep that night since the girls were pleasantly exhausted. If we could find a birthday party every weekend, we'd be set.
Mathilde has been finding her stride in terms of developing a wonderful sense of humour. She watches very intently for reactions to her antics and then looks at you with a devilish grin and breaks into laughter when she gets the reaction she wants. She is very much a social creature at this point. Alexis, on the other hand, has a shy smile that is heart-melting when she finally gives it up. Both girls are eating any and everything that is placed before them. I have not been encouraging self feeding too much yet, but next month will be training for day care.
The girls are very much on par in terms of their gross motor development. Both are up on their knees and rocking, and often I find them having gone from their bellies to a sitting position. I haven't witness how they do it yet. They can both stand for long periods when put up against something, but they haven't shown too much interest in pulling themselves up to standing. Fine by me! (note: before I edited this, Mathilde tried very hard to stand up on her own. Not quite there yet though).
They play wonderfully together. It's mostly side-by-side play, but they do it for long periods and quite happily. Mathilde has unfortunately developed a penchant for pulling hair. And too often it is her sister who is the target, so I do have to move them away from one another quite often. I'm a bit worried for the little girl at their day care, but she has a brother and a sister so she can probably take care of herself! Me on the other hand! I have to keep my hair in a constant pony tail!
Well that's it for us for this week. It's just about time to get the girls up from their morning nap and get them ready for a nice long and very wet walk. Have a terrific week everyone. Oh, and we're off to Ottawa this weekend to visit my girlfriend Kyla and her husband, Nick. Wish us luck!

And We're Off! Nine Months Old.

Hello all! We're back to "to work" on a cloudy, dreary Monday. Wow, Fall just sort of appeared out of no where! I look outside and there are red leaves about to fall from trees, and I need to get out and clean up the gardens. It's amazing that it's been a whole year since we came here to this house and started to prepare for the arrival of our beautiful girls.
Speaking of our beautiful girls! They have discovered that they can move themselves around in their environment! They're not crawling forward, yet, but they are scooting around backwards and moving from sitting to their tummies. It came at a good time, since Toys R Us is having their anniversary sale this week. We picked up a baby gate for the top of the stairs and a sort of baby corral to contain them when I can't watch them directly. Ivan and I did some re-organization of the living room down stairs to make room for the corral, and also to baby proof the space for when they are on the loose. There is really so much more to do, but I guess we'll let them show us what needs to be done. We've got all the immediate hazards covered and should be good until they start walking. Famous last words?
We've been enjoying getting out with them more and more. Sunday we took them to breakfast at Cora's before we went grocery shopping. Both of them are able to sit side by each in the grocery cart now. We actually had a lot of fun shopping! Alexis and Mathilde have started "singing" and so we sang our little song down the isles for the other shoppers. We were quite a hit! We also enjoyed our trip to Toys R Us with the girls on Friday after supper. Usually we would never dream of going anywhere after supper, but they were in good moods and fairly alert, so off we went. We knew it was time to go when Alexis had little half eyes while in her Papa's arms. They're just so cute and so fun to be with.
We'd like to shout out to our Sister In Law, Toni Lightwood. Today is her birthday! So Happy Birthday, Toni, the extra video is for you. We're thinking of you.

We Love September

Ivan suggested that I experiment with adding multiple photos to the blog rather than a video for a change. I agreed since we've been doing so many different activities that it would be nice to share some of the lovely shots we've taken. Well after sitting here wasting precious minutes of nap-time, I am unable to do so. Please accept the couple of images I was able to finally add and enjoy them despite their weird placement!

So, as I mentioned in the last post, my mom (Grammy), Richard (Opa) and Jonathan (Uncle John) visited us for the second time this summer. With a brief sojourn to Kingston, Ontario in the middle, they stayed for just over a week.We took advantage of the lovely weather to make several half-day trips to various attractions around the city, such as Battlefields Park, Old Quebec City and the Quebec Aquarium. This was Alexis and Mathilde's second visit to the aquarium, and they loved it even more. Grammy and Opa each carried a Gully in their arms and so both of them were able to see the fish while I managed the stroller. I think Alexis had the most fun during this particular trip, since she spent more time out of the stroller this time. We enjoyed a lovely lunch together and were treated afterwards to a display of the aquarium's seals and walruses. I'll say it again; I am a huge fan of the aquarium! Ivan and I would also like to again thank them for looking after the girls for us while we went into the city to enjoy some wood-fired pizza and the Bodies exibition! Mathilde wishes you know that she is working on her bed-time issues and will be happy to go down with no argument next time.
This weekend we hit the trails with our new baby back packs from MEC (and Toni and Hal). We found a nice loop just off the National Trail that gives us access to one of the lakes. This is probably River Heaven, since we were able to take him off-leash and give him a swim at the same time. Yesterday we climbed the 'mountain' on a different trail, which is maintained by the municipality of Lac-Beauport. It was a lovely trail, but strict leash rules are in place and River knows that trails mean freedom. He was a bit hard to manage. None-the-less we enjoyed the treck and the tea that Ivan packed to refresh ourselves after the ascent. Alexis and Mathilde do very well in their packs and even manaage to take little naps.
As for the girls themselves, there are all kinds of new things going on for them! Alexis' third tooth finally poked through this morning, so we've been sleeping a lot better. Mathilde has taken to growling like a tiger, which is sort of scary but mostly cute. Alexis waves at us, her reflection and perfect strangers. (As if we need to attract even more attention to ourselves!) The girls are also on the verge of mobility. They are rocking back and forth on their hands while seated and reaching for toys that have travelled way out of reach. I know it's just a matter of time, but still, it's nice that they mostly stay where they are put.
Ivan is leaving for Belgium in mid October. He'll be gone for two weeks. I'm trying to decide whether I should tough it out here on my own, or attempt a trip out East. This could only be pure madness! I've got a few days to think it through. On that note, I am off to get lunch ready for the girls. Ivan is making lamb tonight and so the girls will try that for supper. Have a wonderful week, all!