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!