Another Monday update

So, I just noticed that this is the third Monday in a row that I've updated the blog. Maybe I'll try to make it a regular thing. (Okay, so I've just jinxed it.)

The exciting news of this week is that A is now crawling too. A little bit. She knows how to crawl (we've seen her do it), but she doesn't much care for it. She'd much prefer to sit on her butt and cry and hold out her arms to DoT or I, until we either pick her up or bring her whatever it is that she wants. We try not to give in, to make her crawl, but so far it seems she has more perseverance than we do. It might be the really, really annoying whine that goes along with the cry. :-) Hopefully she'll get better at crawling soon, and will be getting around like E is.

Now, that both girls are crawling, their new preferred way of getting around is walking. They like to take hold of our hands and, with our help, walk around the house. Problem is that neither of them is tall enough to allow this to happen without us having to bend over. So it makes for sore backs. A woman at my Chinese playgroup suggested looping a towel or scarf under their armpits and holding on to that. The only problem is that they then lean forward onto the scarf -- so it's not much good for working on improved balance. But it does save our backs, so we do it every now and again.

E's crawling has really improved. She moves pretty quickly now, and when DoT takes hold of A's hands to help her walk, E likes to race them. It's pretty funny, and usually ends up with E and A both laughing. I may try to get that on video and if I do, I'll post it.

Both girls are teething, and I'm hoping that's the cause of their sleep problems. They are back to waking up a couple of times a night (at least) and, unlike before, when one wakes up and starts crying, it wakes the other one up. We may have to put them into separate rooms.

This week we booked our flights to New Brunswick for Christmas, and have reserved a mini-van for our time there. When I was in university I had a roommate who always said she'd make two trips before ever owning a mini-van, and I whole-heartedly agreed. Now here I am booking mini-vans and car seats for vacations. Times have changed.

Well, that's it for today. Have a great week.

Another trip to the doctor

So we were in to the pediatrician again this morning (A was there last week, because she was sick), for another set of shots. Two more needles, and the girls handled them pretty well. A few tears, but they stopped pretty quickly. And so far they don't seem to be having any reactions to the needles.

Of course, I forgot to write down the height and weight of them, but they may be the same height now. The reason I say "may" is because it's pretty hard to get an accurate measurement on squirming babies. But the nurse said they were the same height. I just don't know what it is. :-) They are now two pounds apart in the weight. A is about 20 lbs, 8 oz (I say about because we tried to weigh her three times and she fought it so much that we got three different weights) and E is 18 lbs, 7 oz. A has lost weight since she was there a month ago, but that's what happens when you stop eating for five days. Or so I'm told. I've never done it myself. A's left her fever and sore throat behind though, and is now eating again like the little sumo wrestler we know she is.

I didn't think I had any new pictures for you today, but then I downloaded the photos off of our camera, and I do have a couple...

This is a picture of two beautiful "scarfghans" which we were given when the girls were dedicated at our church. They are called "scarfghans" because they are five scarves which were knit by a wonderful lady at our church who is over 90 years old and then crocheted together into afghans by another woman in the church. They came with a lovely note about them being provided in an effort to unite the different generations within the church. Anyhow, I think they're just great. The photo doesn't really do them justice.

And these two, I think, show how enthusiastically the girls are embracing their new Mennonite heritage...



Well, that's it for today. Have a great week, everyone!

Okay, now I see the resemblance...

My brother sent me some photos today that he took when we were all in southern Ontario. Good thing other people keep taking pictures of our girls. If you had to rely on us -- their parents -- you'd be seriously deprived. I blame it on the fact that we have two kids now. Don't all parents take less photos once they get to the second kid? When looking through the photo albums at my parents place, you'll notice a whole lot of pictures of my older brother (the first child), and a lot less of me (the second child). So, since we're now at the second child stage, we naturally are taking less pictures. Yeah, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it. (I also have a younger sister. Don't even get me started on my middle-child tales of woe.)

Anyhow, my brother sent me some great photos today, and I particularly liked this one...

Although most people that we know have trouble telling the girls apart, I've never thought E and A look that much alike. E's always been smaller, but even aside from that I thought they looked different. Well, in this photo, E is a bit closer to the camera than A is, so the photo makes her head look, relatively, a bit bigger and A's a bit smaller. And, boy, now I can see what everyone else sees. These two do look a lot alike.

A hasn't been eating much the last couple of days (she's not feeling too well) so maybe E's going to catch up to her in weight and then we're going to have to give them tattoos to tell them apart.

Two posts in one day!

Wow, who'd have thought it possible. :-)

Anyhow, just wanted to ask for any suggestions anyone might have on keeping shoes and socks on kids' feet. I must put socks back on the girls (especially A) at least 20 times a day. And we've come really close to losing shoes a whole bunch of times. (I'm just about to head out to the mall where one of our shoes has turned up in the lost and found. Kudos to Bayshore for contacting me so quickly. We just lost it yesterday.) I'm thinking maybe a variation on the mittens on a string approach, but haven't quite ironed out the details. Any suggestions are welcome.

A rainy day update...

Hi, all. It's pouring buckets here today and A, E and I got quite wet in our brief jaunt out this morning. (I try to get out with them at least once a day... today we ran errands.) I need to find a couple of raincoats for them. And I could use one too!

So, as you'll have noticed, I'm not updating the blog as often as I used to. Believe it or not, I do feel guilty about not updating more often. Just not guilty enough to get me to sit down in front of the computer and update the blog. Especially now that DoT is back to work full time. During the week I don't seem to have a minute of time to do anything. I guess I could update the blog when they nap, but generally then I'm busy cleaning up, trying to get something started for supper, or checking my emails. And often it is all three.

Sleeping has improved for all of us. There have now been a handful of times when both girls have slept through the night (including last night, yeah!). And when they don't sleep right through the night, usually only one of them is up once and often only for a few minutes. They are now down to only one nap. I find that they go to sleep better with only one nap, which happens around mid-day. The crying in their cribs at naptime and bedtime has improved too. Generally it is only 5 to 10 minutes of crying, max. So that's good. And it is bothering me less, and that's a good thing too. The problem I'm encountering now is that E has learned how to pull herself up. So, after about 5 minutes of crying I go into the room and usually find her standing up in her crib. Kind of hard to sleep when you're standing up. :-) If I stand next to her, though, she'll stay laying down and is usually asleep within about 5 minutes.

So when I went to the play group with the other Children's Bridge families a few weeks ago, I forgot my camera. But lucky for you, the other moms in the group have better memories than I do, and they graciously sent me photos. Here's a shot of the three other babies that were at our get-together.

Aren't they cuties! Notice the full, thick heads of hair. A and E are still working on that. :-)


We've also started attending a Chinese Mother Goose playgroup. It's pretty good. I'm mostly going to it so that the girls continue to hear mandarin occasionally. It's a lot of work for one person with two children. So far, one of the leaders has taken one of the girls each week, which has helped. I think I'm going to try to get someone to come with me though, so I will always have a one-to-one baby-to-adult ratio. A friend of mine has already said she may be willing, so hopefully that will work out.

Finally, I'm joining two other playgroups, too. One is a playgroup in Ottawa of parents with Chinese adopted babies. My first get-together with this group will be next week. My two girls will be the youngest of the group, but I think it will still be good for them. I'll let you know how that goes. The other playgroup is at our church, so I already know the moms and tots. That should be fun.

So, I guess you're all now thinking that all I do is play. Well, you go ahead and believe that. It makes you more likely to want to babysit.

This weekend we headed down to southern Ontario for our first real trip away from home since we got the girls. We drove there and back at times when we thought the girls would just sleep the whole way. We should have known better. They did sleep most of the time, but they woke up a lot more than I would have expected. I guess not being able to move in the carseats makes it a bit uncomfortable after awhile. Anyhow, it was a great weekend, and we had a chance to see family and friends, and we ate like kings (and queens). Big turkey dinners two days in a row. Saturday was the Gerber family Christmas dinner with all my dad's extended family. And then Sunday, mom did up a big Thanksgiving dinner and my whole family was there. Once again the nephews did a marvelous job of entertaining the girls, and E's dad and I appreciated having a bit of a break.

Well, gotta go. The girls just woke up from their naps and they are not going to be patient too much longer.

She's mobile!

Okay, so E has learned to crawl. I've been trying all morning to put a video on this blog, as proof. Not sure if this is going to work, but hopefully it will. Oh, and that's raisins she's eating. Had to give her a reason to crawl, and right now raisins are a good motivation for just about anything. :-)