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!