Oh, happy day!

Okay, folks. This is a day of days. Yes, it has finally happened. Last night both E and A slept through the night! Yeehaw. I'm not naive enough to think that this will now occur every night, but it does give me hope that in the not to distant future it might be a regular occurrence. It was quite a shock this morning to wake up and realize that it was morning and I hadn't gotten up at all during the night. A and E are waking up at around 6:00 a.m. these days, which is still way too early for me, but if they sleep through the night I've decided I will be happy with that.

Now, to balance off that good sleep news, DoT and I are going through a bit of a hard time these days because, as of last Thursday, we have been putting the girls in their cribs awake in the hopes that they will learn to go to sleep on their own. Everyone says that it takes about 5 days and that the crying gets progressively shorter each night, but so far I'm not seeing a pattern. The first night, they screamed for about 20 minutes. And when I say "scream", I mean scream. If it was just crying it would be one thing, but I find the screaming really upsetting. It's hard to listen to that and not respond. But if we do go into their bedroom to try to calm them down it just seems to make it worse -- I guess they see that they're having an effect and it gives them a second wind.

Basically the screaming goes on for anywhere between 2 or 3 minutes to 45 minutes. Last night, DoT's brother J was visiting. He was amazed when we put A to bed and she went from screaming to sleeping from one breath to the next. (E fell asleep in my arms last night and I decided that there was no way I was waking her up just to put her into her crib.) And the screaming isn't reserved for bedtime -- they'll also scream like that when we're not feeding them fast enough, when they want out of the stroller, or when we don't respond to them quickly enough when they want us. So I don't think the screaming necessarily indicates that they're in real emotional turmoil. At least I hope not.

They are both napping right now. They went into their cribs at 3:05 p.m., and the screaming stopped at 3:15 p.m., so that's not too bad.

They were to the pediatrician again this morning for a check-up and their next set of needles. They got two needles today - one in each arm. There were a few tears, but they got over it really quickly and were all smiles since then -- until they were put in their cribs. :-) For those of you who are interested, they weighed in today at 17 lbs, 11 oz (E) and 20 lbs, 11 oz (A). So A is gaining weight a bit quicker than E. Not surprising - she's not nearly as picky an eater.

This week marked the start of my piano lessons and choir practices again. The piano lessons are late enough at night that the girls are asleep before I leave home, but on choir night DoT gets them to bed. As much as I love being off work with these two girls, I must admit I've really enjoyed the start-up again of some of my 'adult' activities. It's nice to occasionally have something to focus on that is not related to the kids.

Later this week, we will be going to two "play dates". On Thursday we're getting together with the other Ottawa families who traveled together to China when we adopted. This will be the first time the little girls (and their parents) will see each other since China, so it will be nice to catch up. Then on Friday, I've registered the girls for a Chinese play group. I want the girls to learn Mandarin when they are a bit older, and I think it will be helpful for them to continue to hear it occasionally now so that they don't lose their ear for it. So, Friday morning I and the girls will go to a Mother Goose Chinese play group. Apparently we'll all be learning some Mandarin games and songs. I can just imagine how well I'll do at that. :-) Of course, these two play dates are going to interfere with the routine I'm trying to establish. After waffling back and forth for quite awhile, I've decided that these girls need both their morning and afternoon naps. I was toying with dropping the morning nap, but it makes them really cranky and not too willing to eat much at lunch. So, they're getting a nap in the morning and afternoon now. Except Thursday and Friday. Oh, yeah, and Sunday. There's just way too much going on in church for them to shut their eyes. *Sigh* So much for my "routine".

Well, that's it. No new pictures for you this week. I'll try to remember the camera when we go to the play groups, so I may have something for you next week.

Top Five List

After checking out the latest issue of Parenting magazine (which, in case anyone is wondering I wouldn't recommend)...








E & A have decided it's time to hit the road...












Apparently DoT and I are not the ideal parents this magazine presents. (Like I said, I wouldn't recommend the magazine. :-) )

Anyhow, we are learning as we go, and thought we would pass along all our newfound wisdom, since if we've learned one thing with this adoption it's that everyone (almost) has an opinion on how best to parent. So, in that vein, here is our top five list of parenting wisdom ...

1. Always make sure the lid is closed when setting baby powder within reach of a baby.
















2. Babies can kiss each other too! It's not just about biting.
















3. If you want a hat to stay on a baby's head, make sure it ties under the chin. (Although they may be less than thrilled about it.)

4. Kids will lay down anywhere (unless you're trying to get them to sleep in which case laying down becomes the absolute worst thing in the world).

5. Utensils are optional when eating spaghetti. And whether you use them or not, the end result is much the same...















That's it. All our words of wisdom for today. Feel free to ask us for more though. Because I'm sure we have them, and if not we can certainly relay lots of tips from others. :-)

K...

Visitors

So, there was lots of excitement at our house this week. My sister and mom, and my two nephews (J and M) came to Ottawa for a short visit. Kids are always a big attraction for A & E -- and J & M in particular, since they are so good at entertaining them.

The picture at the right was taken this morning, just before everyone left. We're going to miss J and M (and mom and P, too), especially when the girls get bored again with just me and DoT around. Although it's almost September now (wow, time flies) and October and Thanksgiving won't be long after that. We are planning a trip to southern Ontario that weekend. My brother will be visiting from China, and it's a great opportunity to see the whole family again. (Too bad my sister-in-law won't be making the trip too.)

This week we also had a visit from friends -- L and Auntie 'Em. It was great to see them again. We got caught up a bit, but will need to have another longer visit since there's still lots of stuff we didn't get a chance to talk about. Auntie 'Em brought each of the girls "Taggies" which are basically a small, soft toy with a bunch of tags sewn on them. They both love them. I don't know what it is with kids and tags, but they just go for them. L brought two handmade sweaters. They are really beautiful, and look great on them. A couple of other friends have also knit sweaters for the girls and I'm going to take a picture of all of them, and put it on the blog.

Next week, DoT's mom and aunt are coming for a visit, so that will be someone new again for the girls to look at. :-)

Part of the excitement during the visit came from the fact that last night at about 8:30 p.m. our smoke detectors went off. They are hard-wired into the wiring of our house, so we weren't able to just take out the battery. DoT ended up going down to the basement and flipping the circuit. The amazing thing was that the girls had been asleep in their cribs for about 20 minutes before that and neither one of them woke up when the alarm sounded. And the alarm is really, really loud. It's this high piercing sound that I was sure could be heard all around the neighbourhood. But the girls slept right though it. And then, E woke up, for no reason, 20 minutes later. Huh.

The girls were also back to the International Clinic at CHEO this week for their second visit. The results were all in for the blood work and urine and stool samples they'd had done. And everything is good. No problems for either girl -- so that was good news. They did a TB skin test this visit and we will go in to have the results read tomorrow, so hopefully they will pass that with flying colours too.

And on this visit, I wrote down their height and weights, since people always ask me and I can never remember. Anyhow, as of Tuesday, E weighed 17.5 lbs and was 27.25 inches tall. A weighed 19.5 lbs and was 27.5 inches tall. They are still a bit small for their ages, but both are following a normal curve and that's the important thing.

The doctor at the clinic told us what to do to try to encourage them to start crawling. Basically, when they are on their tummies we are to position them so their knees are directly under their hips (ie. get them in the crawl position). We've tried it a couple of times since then, and both girls hate it. So there's lots of yelling involved, and we don't last long until we let them lie down or sit again. Either we're going to have to get used to the yelling, or we're just going to have to accept the fact that they won't be crawling for awhile.

That's it for today. Have a great weekend everyone!

Same old, same old

So, nothing new to report here today. Neither girl is crawling or walking yet, although A is scooting backwards (not on purpose though). If she's on her tummy she can move across the room in a few minutes. But unfortunately she hasn't realized this yet, and so isn't doing it to get to the things she wants. She's still crying for either DoT or I, for that.

Sleep patterns haven't changed much either. Both girls are getting up a couple of times a night, at least. And last night they were both up, in the middle of the night, wide-awake for over an hour (at seperate times, of course). They weren't screaming or anything, like they sometimes do, but they weren't interested in sleeping either. When this happened our first week back we blamed jet-lag. I'm not sure what to blame now. Teething, maybe? Their sleep may be a bit better when we take them into bed with us. Normally DoT takes A into the guest room and I take E into our bed. The girls sleep better, but we don't. Both of them like to flop around a lot in their sleep. :-)

Well, I've got a few more pictures for you....

We've introduced the girls to a few of our favourite things...

Not to worry, it's decaf.

And here are a couple of pictures of them sporting their shades. (So far we've been unsuccessful at getting them to wear either the glasses or hats when out in the sun.)







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

A week full of doctors

So this week we have been spending a lot of time in doctors' offices. DoT and I both had our 'annual' (okay so we're not actually that regular) physicals this week. Although I still have blood work to get done. My appointment was for 8 a.m., and usually I just go straight to the blood lab after the appointment (it's in the same building). But I made the mistake of having breakfast that morning. I wasn't really hungry, and didn't really want to eat, but every other time I've given blood they've asked me if I've eaten anything and don't want to take blood if I haven't. So, I ate. Well, this year my doctor's decided to include a cholesterol test in the blood work, which means I need to fast for 12 hours before giving the blood sample. So I was thwarted. I'll probably go in first thing tomorrow morning. [By the way, mom, my blood pressure is "perfect" - and that's a quote. Pretty amazing given the recent stress in our lives, eh? Apparently it is only your blood pressure machine that stresses me out. :-) ]

E and A have a "meet and greet" appointment at a pediatrician on Friday (yes, we've been lucky enough to find one who is taking patients). However, I had E in to the pediatrician yesterday. She's had a fever for a couple of days, and it seemed to be getting worse (don't worry, it's nothing serious, and is practically gone today). So I gave the pediatrician's office a call around noon and they got her in later in the day. Dr. Chan (the pediatrician) is very nice, and I'm really thankful he's agreed to add the girls to his client list.

Next week we go back to CHEO for our second visit to the International Adoption Clinic.

Who knows, after all this visiting of doctors, maybe the girls will reach a point when they don't automatically scream when they're in a doctor's office. :-)

A few new pics

Since I have nothing new to tell you, I thought I'd just give you a couple of new pics today. These were taken yesterday, by DoT...


Have you got it straight yet, which twin is which?

These are a few of my favourite things...

Well, it's getting harder and harder to update this blog, mainly because I feel like I'm running out of things to say. I never meant this blog to be only about our adoption, and the antics of A and E, but that's what it's turned into. Maybe at some point I'll be hit with a really insightful topic or thought, and the blog will branch out to include (in the vein of Saturday Night Live of long ago) 'K's Deep Thoughts'. But for now, I have no deep thoughts. And I know most of the people reading this blog are more interested in A and E than in what I have to say, anyhow.

Here are the photos I tried to put on the last blog update. Just a couple of shots of the girls. The first one is DoT and A, and the second is DoT and E.




















Quite awhile ago a friend (Auntie Em) asked us to talk a bit about what the girls do like. (I guess I've been spending most of my blog time talking about what they don't like.) So, here's a short list...

E's favourite things:

• Baby Mum Mums
• fruit (of any kind) and yogurt
• a stuffed doll of a Teletubby (a hand-me-down from my nephews)
• a toy Pooh radio that plays a few different selections
• standing -- it's hard to keep this kid down. She just doesn't like to sit.
• toys that make noise
• and a little multi-coloured ball that was originally Abby's (our cats)

A's favourite things:

• Baby Mum Mums
• music -- favourite song seems to be B-I-N-G-O
• fruit (of any kind) and yogurt
• boucing in her exer-saucer (sometimes)
• toys -- especially musical toys
• bath time
• rolling around
• and the same little multi-coloured ball that was originally Abby's (luckily we have two)

As for other favourites -- well, I'm pretty sure their favourite colours are red and blue -- definitely not pink. :-) They are both also pretty excited about Canada's universal health care system, as evidenced by this picture to the left. (Yes, they received their health cards in the mail late last week. Their Permanent Resident cards and SIN cards should be coming any time now.)

That's it for now. Stay cool everyone, K.