The Babies Have Control of The House

Whew! I'm tired. It's been a long five days since Ivan left us for his European destination. And to think we toyed with the idea of all of us going with him. Ha! It's hard enough being home in my own environment, let alone traipsing around Belgium on my own with two 10 month olds. But, really, if I had to do it, I'd rather do it with our 10 month olds. They're so good. And I'm not just saying that because I'm their Mama. They are really that good.
So much has happened since I last posted. David and Jeanette arrived to keep us company on the same day that Ivan left. They stayed until Tuesday and spent some wonderful quality time with Mathilde and Alexis (and me too, of course!) D & J took the girls and I out to supper on Sunday night to the restaurant down the road. Ivan and I have been meaning to get out to this place since we arrived, but never quite made it. It was pretty good. The food was really nice, but maybe the service was a bit slow and confused. Slow service is tricky when dining with infants since by the time the meal arrives, they are pretty much at their melting point. But, really over all, I have to say that they did just fine. They dined on salmon and spaghetti bol and flirted mercilessly with a young gentleman seated at the next table. Alexis enjoyed watching the TV overhead as well. They used to get 10 minutes of Canada AM every morning while I nursed them, but I can't keep them on the bed with me anymore since they can crawl away and have no fear of ledges!
So, yes, you ready correctly. They can crawl. Both of them. Forwards, backwards, sideways. It's all the same to them. They are mobile and exploratory. What's even more fun is that Alexis can stand on her own, not holding on to anything for 20 seconds or more. She gets up on her knees as well and sort of looks like a meer cat when danger is afoot. She's not smelling the air or anything like that, but she crawls along, stands up on her knees, arms at her side, looks around and then continues crawling. I should probably capture that on video since it's probably just temporary until she discovers how to pull herself up onto her feet. Neither of them can do that yet. I'm not sure why.
We've been having fun though. Now that they are mobile they seem to enjoy crawling in and out of my lap. Alexis will crawl into my lap, snuggle in and suck her thumb for a minute or so and then once she's had her fill, she takes off in search of adventure. Then she'll return to fill up on Mama security for a bit and then she's off. Mathilde loves to crawl up for a rough sort of cuddle. She climbs up on me, grabs my shoulders and lays a big open mouth "kiss" on me and then crawls away. Yesterday my girlfriend, Krista, asked if I ever nursed them at the same time and I said no. I hadn't for about 7 months maybe. Well, now that they can get into my lap, they can also ask to nurse...at the same time. So we tried it. It was a little strange, I have to say, but wow, what a time saver!
Both of them wave bye bye. So now that the image is in your head of the action, it would be fair to note that they actually don't know the proper context of the wave. They wave at objects that please them, the ceiling, River, whatever. Waving is just fun. I tried to show River how to wave back, but it would seem that this will take more time than showing the girls when it's appropriate to wave. We're working on clapping next, and since I just figured out how to play Patty Cake, we're all set!
Well, this post is just as much for Ivan as anyone else. He called today and I was not in top form at all. I spent 8 hours of my precious day dialing and re-dialling the pediatric clinic on the only day they're accepting appointments for December trying to get the girls an appointment for their shots as well as their 1 year check up. I never did get through. Thank God my beautiful girls were still in excellent humour at the end of the day. They brought their Mama back from a very frustrated state. So Ivan didn't get any of the important Gully information when he called, just a blast of frustration over the technical difficulties I was having with the phone. I maintain our phone setup sucks, but it's not his fault that I couldn't get through to the clinic. I hope the video helps to ease the shock of dealing with this frustrated Mama. And I did squeeze your Lexi for you.
That's it from this Lightwood household for today. I'm still soliciting phone calls this week. Don't be afraid; I'm done dealing with Pediatric Clinics for this month!

To the Capital and Back

Can you believe that we are creeping up on 10 months of Gully bliss? It's unbelievable to me that I'm returning to work next month and that it's time to start getting them prepared for not having Mama around every moment. I will start weaning (not fully) this month, as well as trying to eliminate the morning nap in favour of a longer afternoon nap. We'd like to get them used to drinking from a sippy cup on their own and hopefully improve their pincer grasp so that they can do a little more self feeding.
But I don't think it's going to be as difficult as I thought it was going to be. We went to Ottawa last weekend to visit a girlfriend of mine and her husband. (Kyla and Nick) I thought the trip would only take 4 hours, but it ended up taking 6. The girls had absolutely no difficulties with this at all! In fact, they woke up just in time to hit traffic in Montreal and seemed to enjoy the sights from the back of the mini van that we rented. I was very worried about how they would adapt to sleeping in both a strange room and in a strange bed, but they slept through the night! I think we only had tears twice and both times it was little quick sniffles from Mathilde which were very quickly settled by a nearby grown up. We didn't even have high chairs for them. We just sat them on the dining room table and fed them until they tried to crawl away. The ride home was just as quiet, and everybody settled back into their schedule very nicely. It was inspirational! We're trying to figure out where we go next!
Since that last post, both girls can get into a sitting position from their bellies and both are pretty much crawling. They don't cruise along with ease yet, but they are figuring it out. I often find Mathilde sitting up in her crib when she is supposed to be napping. One time I went into see what she was crying about, and I found her sitting up with her legs through the bars, and holding on to them with her hands. It was like she was saying "Please help me! I'm tired and I want to go to sleep, but I don't know how to back up and lie down!" Poor thing. Alexis, on the other hand, has no difficulties with this sleep thing. She lets me know she's sleepy with a yawn, I put her down and she smiles, grabs her blanket, pops her thumb in her mouth and closes her eyes. That's it. You don't hear from her again, and in fact, I only go in to get her up because I hear Mathilde calling for me! I suppose she figures she doesn't need to fuss, Miss Mathilde does enough of that!
Well, that's not fair to Mathilde. I think that neither of them are particularly difficult. In fact, quite the opposite. I think that they are just going to settle into this day care thing with flying colours. I have a vision of them sitting down with little Magnolia (our care provider's 10 month old) and taking over the place. I hope that's true anyway. This is going to be very hard for me. Anyway, Ivan leaves on Saturday for two weeks, and this is going to be a long, hard haul for me with two infants on my own. If you have the time, please give me a call. I could certainly use the support. If you really have the time, please come and visit! That would be terrific! Until next time, all the very best.