August Update

(Picture: Gwendolyn)August has been a very busy month for us. The Civic Long weekend brought lots of visitors - Brenda from work visited on Sunday up from London (London, Ontario). Was able to get caught up on work news (too my surprise, apparently the Bank can survive without me!). Brenda and Karen were very helpful in relieving me of my daughters - even offering to help with the feeding. Beware if you visit and offer to help that I will take you up on that offer :) (Picture: Brenda and Karen with Rowan and Gwendolyn)

Julie and family visited from Ottawa - it was incredibly hot. Walked over to High Park where the fire department had brought in one of their pump trucks and were spraying water for the children to run through. It looked very tempting to join in. Julie brought us a swing - which is a magical device - put crying baby in swing and in less than a minute baby is distracted by moving mobile - 5min later - baby is asleep. It's fantastic - especially during the week when I'm home alone with two babies crying. I can even time it so one is asleep in the swing while I'm feeding the other. Once finished, I turn of the swing and let the other baby wake up and then feed her. It's certainly changed my day.

The following weekend we ventured out on our first road trip to Ottawa with the girls. It's a five hour drive and we tried to schedule it so we left immediately after their morning feed so we only had to stop once on the way up - but like all great plans, I forgot to take into account the amount of time at Budget arranging for the rental and summer Friday traffic. At the first rest stop - there were so many people we ended up feeding the girls in the car. We also brought with us far to much stuff for the girls. But now I know that we can pack lighter next time. Mum and Dad had setup a nursery in one our old bedrooms - converting the top of a filing cabinet into a change table and happy campers/playpens for the girls to sleep in. We were worried that the girls wouldn't sleep very well - given the road trip and the strange sleeping area - but they went down at the usual time and slept the whole night waking up at 6am (and kept their schedule the entire weekend).
Saturday morning, Ed and Grandpa watched the girls while Mum and I did a bit of shopping. In the afternoon, the girls attended their first birthday party as my Godson was turning 3years old. The house and backyard was full of kids running around with water guns. They had set up a slip'n slide in the backyard and series of other games for the kids. The girls were dressed up in their party dresses looking very cute - and once again as soon as we entered the house we had to give up the girls.

Below is a picture of the Rowan on the quilt that their Gran completed for their arrival. For the past couple of weeks - the girls have become much more alert and aware of each other. I've gotten into the habit of putting them on the activity mat after their 10am feeding to play (while I check my email) before giving them tummy time (or as Ed calls it torture time). The girls are getting very good at pushing their heads of the floor for a few seconds before it falls back down. Rowan has found a short cut - where she rest on her hands - so I have to keep moving her hands out of the way to encourage her to lift up her head much to her displeasure.

Sunday, Nan arrived to meet the girls .Nan is a long time close family friend who is now officially family as we've asked her to be Great Gran Nan to the girls. Ed and I enjoyed playing the proud parents introducing the girls to family and friends in Ottawa. (Picture: Nan with Rowan)


Ed and I are starting to incorporate some of our old past time hobbies that we have recently been to busy to enjoy. Ed has started running again - he isn't planning on being in any races this summer. I take the girls for a walk while he runs and we meet at the bridge by the lake and walk back together. I've also started reading books again - which may not sound like a big deal but two months ago I couldn't imagine having that kind of spare time.

Baby's Room

We moved the girls out into their own room on Monday after my Mum left. The girls didn't seem to notice but we did - much better sleep now that we're not awakening to every little noise they make. The room looks great - this weekend we're going out to get a second crib. The girls are quite long and when we put them down at night their legs now touch and they enjoy kicking each other. Which would be fine - but they also rotate so some mornings I've come in to find Gwendolyn with this big smile on her face kicking away only a couple of inches from Rowan's face.
Having my Mum here for the week was great - if only for the adult conversion during the day. But having someone to help with feed the girls allowed us more free time between feedings to go out to the mall, walk to High Park and around Roncesvalles. Mum also left us with some meals in the freezer. The girls loved having their Granny here - which I found out the hard way in the afternoon after she left. They were no longer content to let one be fed first and they loved the constant attention but now a couple of days later they have slipped back into their old routine once I assured them that Granny would be coming back.Now that the girls have a steady routine - I've started looking for baby groups to join but they seem to shut down for the summer. I have found that Starbucks is a great place to find other mothers with babies. And having twins attracts so much attention that starting conversations is easy. Plus our local Starbucks is ideally setup for twins - the washroom are large to accommodate a double stroller and they are equipped with change table. They have big comfy chairs in a corner for feeding and the barristers are so helpful - helping me with the doors and bringing me my drink if the girls require attention. It's about a 20min walk up Roncesvalles - up hill one way to I'm getting some exercise was well.

We brought the girls and activity mat - Gwendolyn is doing very well - lifting her head up and pushing her shoulders of the ground. Rowen prefers to be on her back and working on turning over.

As busy was we are with the girls - we still find time to chill out.

Three Months

The girls are now three months old. They are now lifting their heads and becoming much more interactive with us. It has been amazing watching this past month as they become more aware of their surroundings. They smile and laugh a lot - and unlike their parents - they appear to be morning people. The best playing time is right after there morning feed. We've also had to retire some of their clothes - they are now wearing 3-6month clothes.

This past month has been a busy one - it started June 1st with a BBQ hosted by Ed's sister, Kelly where the girls were introduced to Ed's Aunt Adele and Uncle Bill and his cousins Lyanne and Daryll and their family. The house was full of children and lots of arms ready to cuddle the girls.


Rowan's brace came off after 6weeks. We brought her to Sick Kids Hospital where they took an ultrasound of her hip and determined that everything looked normal. As we were releasing the brace she broke out into a big smile and started kicking and laughing. It was wonderful to watch but also a little sad as it was obvious she had been aware of the brace and hadn't enjoyed wearing it. She really enjoyed her bath - the first one since the brace had been put on.

Mum arrived this week to spend time with the girls. It has been a great week. It's wonderful to have an extra set of hands during the day to feed one girl while I fed the other. I'm only worried that they have enjoyed their Gran's hugs so much that they will expect that every afternoon is cuddle time. Gran also has the magic touch in putting them to sleep - they only have to be in her arms for a couple of minutes before they nod off.

This past Wednesday we found we had to take Rowan to the hospital Pediatric walk in clinic as for the previous two days she had been twisting her body in a jack-knife position and turning her head up to the ceiling. She was doing it through-out the day and during the night while in her crib. So off we went to the hospital with Rowan while Mum stayed home with Gwendolyn. The doctor saw her right away and Ed and I sat by nervously while the she was being examined. Once the examine was over, the doctor turned to us and explain that her muscles were developing (right way I jumped to the conclusion maybe it's muscle spasms) - and with a small smile on his face explained that that around this time they start using their new found muscles and flexibility to start rolling over (a condition that will also affect her sister). That's right - Ed and I rushed our daughter to the hospital only to find out she is rolling over. Our only excuse is that we are very concerned parents (very concerned first time parents). Two day's later Gwendolyn started doing the same thing. Now when we put them in the crib - rather than finding them the next morning in the same position - they have rotated and wiggled to different positions.

Next month the girls are off to their first boy/girl party in Ottawa.

Pediatrician Appointment

The girls were at the DR today. Rowan is now 11lb14oz and Gwen is 10lbs. Both are doing very well. They got their first shots - neither liked it, both cried a lot. They have been fussy since we brought them home.

This weekend we work toward putting Rowan and Gwendolyn on a sleeping routing. Friday night we put the girls down at 8pm - Gwendolyn was up for a feeding at 1am and again at 5am. Rowan slept through from 8pm to 4am. Last night they both were fussy after we put them down at 8pm and slept off and on until 11pm when they started crying, we feed them and they went down until 4am.

Saturday morning, armed with the Bjorn carriers we took the girls to the St. Lawrence Market - they slept the entire time. We did some shopping and walked around with them. They always attract a lot of attention - a couple of people asked about Rowan's brace. The brace fits nicely in the carrier, as it allows her legs to stretch out.

In the afternoon, Aunt Kelly, Uncle Tracy and the girls cousins Josh and Jenna dropped by for a visit.

"Taste of Little Italy" Festival

It's been a week since Rowan was fitted for her brace and she has been handling it pretty well. There is the occasional frustrated cry when she realizes she can't stretch out her legs but overall she has been a real trooper. The brace is to stay on for approx. 6 weeks to allow the sockets to grow into place.

Last weekend we walked down to Little Italy for the "Taste of Little Italy" Festival. We planned our walk ahead of time - so we stopped at Starbucks just before Little Italy to feed the girls before heading to the Festival. It was a very hot day and we were worried about how it would affect the girls so we didn't stay long. Long enough to try some calamari, rice balls and look through a couple of shops. I brought a hat to wear in the fall.

This week we arranged for a night nurse to come in the evenings 11pm till 8am, Monday - Thursday to allow Ed and I to catch up on some much needed sleep. Her name is Hyancith and she has been very helpful - it's wonderful to be able to get 7hours sleep. It's also been helpful to get the girls on a routine. They are now feed 6times (down from 8) a day and we are starting to implement a bedtime for them at 8pm. We feed and bath them - and then put them down for 8pm in a dark environment. Sometimes one of them (they take turns) will wake for a 11pm feeding but last night both slept until 2:30 and then slept until 6am. We are hoping that as they get bigger and eat more at each feeding time that we will be able to phase out the 2:30 feeding and get them to sleep the whole night (that is the goal -we'll see how it develops). Usually, one girl sleeps the entire time only waking for feeding while the other is fussy and then the next night they switch. We trying to keep both girls awake from 5pm onward to get them nice and tired.

Week Seven

The girls 2 month birthday is coming up. Sometimes it feels like time is flying, other times I can't wait until they are off to college (those are usually the times when I haven't had much sleep and I fondly remember what it was like to sleep in). The girls have had a busy month with all the visitors.

Aunt Sabrina, Uncle Douglas and Brandon were over from Hong Kong and were down visiting along with Gran and Grampa. The picture was taken in High Park walking through the zoo.

Ed with the girls cousin, Brandon.






The girls in their nice new outfits ready to go out on the town (or a nice walk in the park).