Thursday Fun

We woke to a beautiful day here in Toronto and the babies and I decided to make the most of it.

First, we played in our jammies.

Then, we headed out for a long leisurely walk in our historic town.  Some of us fell asleep.

Some of the beauty of our town.

Pea was sound asleep in the stroller when we arrived home, so Chick and I had fun playing with some dandelions while he slept.

When Pea awoke, he needed some cuddles; I was happy to oblige.  J. was home from work by this time and took some photos of us.

We then headed out to our weekly swimming lesson.  Tonight was picture night, so Gramma and Grampa came out to take some photos of our little fishies.

 

 We capped the day off with a visit to the library.

It's no wonder these two sleep so soundly at night.

Baptism

Decorations Galore!

Proud Parents

L-R:  Uncle John, Grampa, Daddy and Pea, G-Man, Mommy and Chick, Grandma

Godparents:  Tanya (BFF) and John (my brother)

Baptizing Pea

Baptizing Chick

Welcoming Chick into the Church community

Welcoming Pea into the Church community

A Couple Of Videos For A Couple of Grandparents

Not A Fan Of Grass from Two Kayaks on Vimeo.




Laughter Part Two from Two Kayaks on Vimeo.

Black and White Wednesday

Chick Negotiating the prickly spring grass

Pea Watching Daddy

Sunday Bullets

Sundays just seem like the perfect day for bullets, don't they?

• Chick has a cold.  It might be allergies.  We have no clue.  All we know is that her nose has become a veritable faucet of snot.  Nice, eh?  It wouldn't be so bad if not for her distaste for anything Kleenex-y on her face.  

• I went out on Friday with a friend and without the babies.  WITHOUT.  Okay, so I was only gone for 2.5 hours and I couldn't wait to come home, but that's beside the point. It was beyond weird to not have them with me, but it was good to have a bit of time for me.

•  Our new stroller should arrive sometime this week and I couldn't be more excited!  I am thrilled that the babies will have a very comfortable ride and will have the ability to sleep with independently reclining seats. 

• I have decided that I no longer wish to be K1 and no longer wish that J. be referred to as K2 on the blog.  From now on, it's just K. and J (Chick and Pea will remain as such).  

• If you don't know the names of our babies and want to know, email me (email is on the sidebar - twokayaks at gmail dot com).  I have had a couple of emails from people who read the blog asking for their names and I didn't realize that they didn't know.  I don't want their names to be online, but there is no secret about who they are.  

•  Yesterday, this happened for the very first time.  Today I caught it on video.  My brother  and Lisa were here for Catan last night and John reminded me that I was walking at nine months.  Scary....

April 18, 2010 from Two Kayaks on Vimeo.

• People told me that my life would change so much when the babies started to crawl.  They said I'd be SO busy and wouldn't be able to keep up with them.  However, from my perspective, they are easier now that they are crawling.  Happier to be more independent, they seem more settled.  It's great!

• My neck has spasmed again.  I had Pea on my shoulders yesterday and when I went to put him down, I felt it pop.  I hate my neck.  

• I get such satisfaction when people I've never trusted live up to my expectations.  It's even better when other people realize the true nature of someone's personality (or lack thereof).  I think it's wicked-cool!

•  What should I care about in a convertible car seat?  There are too many options out there and I get overwhelmed easily.  When I say I get overwhelmed easily, I mean that I could easily break down in tears in any aisle of any baby store because the choices are too varied. When the safety of my children is at risk, well I get a little emotional.

• I need to reheat my magic bag.

8 Months Old Today **Updated with monthly pics**

I can barely believe it.

At 7:05 this morning, I was cuddling with Pea in the great room when I realized what day it was and especially what time it was. I whispered into his ear that eight months ago, I was pushing hard to bring him into the world. I have relived that day a million times in my head and I love remembering the moment he was born and placed on my chest. I would relive that day over and over again if I could. Laboring and birthing our two babies was the most amazing and wonderful experience of my life.

I will do a true monthly post (complete with the babies beside their shrinking bears) in the next few days.

Today I will leave you with a close-up picture of my poor son's mouth. He sprouted his SIXTH tooth (and the THIRD this week) today. Poor little fella. No wonder he's been so clingy and a little whiny.

Click to enlarge.

As of his 8th month, Pea has his two bottom teeth, his two top teeth and the two teeth on either side of his top teeth.

P.S.  Chick has NO teeth...not even a hint of a tooth.  Weird huh?

Here are the monthly pictures.  Click each to enlarge.

The Day Our Lives Changed

April 15, 2009 - I wrote this so that I would never forget.

We woke to an incredibly sun-shiny day and hoped that the beautiful weather would foreshadow good things for our big anatomy scan today. At 8:00am, we boarded the Yahoo and headed to Timmies to grab a decaf coffee and a tea biscuit for the road. Battling bumper to bumper traffic led us to take a slight detour and head North a little earlier than we normally would have. We had loads of time, so it was okay.
We arrived in Toronto at 9:00 and headed to the hospital where we had a 9:15 appointment to pre-register for our impending birth. Paperwork filled out and information given, we then headed to a little café where K2 could grab a coffee and a western sandwich before heading up for our appointment at 10:00.
At 9:55, we entered the doctor's office and were promptly taken into the ultrasound room with a sonographer who did our last ultrasound. She's a fairly quiet sonographer, so I knew we wouldn't have much conversation during the hour she was working on me. She goobed me up with the doppler gel and began to scan my abdomen quite fervently. I could only see a corner of the monitor, but K2 had full view. Afterward, he told me he had no idea what he was looking at most of the time. About ten minutes into the scan, I felt brave enough to ask her if everything looked okay. She assured me that everything looked great and that Baby B (our girl) was being evasive. I could see the four chambers of each of their hearts, I could see blood flow through the liver and the heart and I could make out the length of the femur on both babies as she was doing it. I could also see the hemispheres of each brain, which was very cool.
After about 45 minutes, she turned the screen toward me and began to show me a better view of some of the anatomy she had been scanning. It was incredible to see the hearts beating so well and to see their little hands, legs and feet. Absolutely incredible.
She then asked if we were ready to know the genders (we had asked to know when we first entered the room). We both nodded and she said, "This baby is a boy and this one is a girl". Instinctively, I shot my arms up over my head in a "yahoo" type of rah rah (I don't know why) and I said, "NO WAY!"
It turns out that Baby B (whom we had been calling "Pea" all this time) is actually our GIRL and Baby A (whom we had been calling "Chick" all this time) is actually our BOY! She said that they label the babies according to who is closest to the cervix. Our boy is head down with his feet up near my left breast and our girl is head down with her feet up near my right breast. Our boy would be born first if they stayed in this position (which is unlikely, I assume).*
Our girl is measuring right on target and our boy is measuring about a week ahead! He's a big boy for his age (thank you M&Ms, Mike & Ikes, and all that Easter goodness that was so yummy).**
The sonographer then did an internal ultrasound to check my cervix. She said that it looked good and we were then sent out to the waiting room to wait for our doctor's appointment.
Needless to say, we were all smiles in the waiting room. None of this is lost on us. Not one single moment. We looked around at all the other expectant parents (some of whom were visibly upset at having to wait an hour to be seen) and thought about how lucky we were. We didn't even notice the hour go by, as we were too busy smiling and talking about our boy and our girl. Incredible.
Finally, the doctor called my name and we followed him into the examination room. He said that there was a minor concern about my cervix in that it had a dimple. I don't know what this means and I have no idea why we didn't think to ASK him what this meant, but he said that he was likely being paranoid, but would rather be safe than sorry and said that he wants a recheck of it in two weeks. To ease my mind, he added that my cervix was still nice and long, so that made me feel better. I tend to fixate on the negative, but I am trying my hardest to focus on the fact that he wants to monitor it closely instead of thinking it might turn into something horrible. He assured me that I did not have to alter my life in any way (yet) and even when I told him that I stand all day at my job, he said it was fine. He took my blood pressure (I have no idea what it was), weighed me (20 pounds gained), and then I was given my next appointment date.
We went out for lunch and called our parents to break the good news. It was fun calling them and hearing their squeals of delight. I still can't believe it.
Wow. A girl and a boy. Finally a family, for sure.

* Our little Pea flipped once during the pregnancy, but by delivery time he was back to being head down and he was born first.
** He's still HUGE for his age!

Black and White Wednesday

Mother and Daughter

True Love

See other amazing photographs here:

Diagnosis

Pea has Congenital Unilateral Ptosis (meaning that he has had a drooping of only one eyelid from birth). The pediatric neurologist with whom we met today did a handful of tests on Pea to ensure that there wasn't a neurological condition causing the Ptosis and Pea scored beautifully on each of them. Big sigh of relief. I knew that he was fine in that regard, but there is something to be said for having a neurologist confirm a mother's intuition.
So, Pea needs surgery to correct this and we have been referred to a surgeon who works and teaches at Sick Kids Hospital.  Of course, I researched their center tonight to ensure that Pea was getting the best care possible and this is what I found about the Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences clinic at Sick Kids:

• State of the art paediatric ophthalmic imaging unit
• Largest paediatric ophthalmology centre in North America
• Largest paediatric vision research program in Canada. We provide: comprehensive primary, secondary care to local community, advanced tertiary and quaternary care provincially, nationally and internationally.
• Largest paediatric ophthalmology training program in North America
• Largest Paediatric Visual Electrophysiology Unit in North America
• On site Paediatric Ophthalmology Sedation Unit
• The only Paediatric Ocular Motor Laboratory in Canada
• Strongest ophthalmic research program (1 endowed chair, more than 2 million/year in grants)

So, yes, I feel as though we are moving in the right direction for Pea.  As I was settling Pea into his crib tonight I thought about all those parents who would be going to bed with a diagnosis not as benign as ours.  I don't know how parents who have gravely ill children do it.  I honestly don't.  We are beyond lucky and incredibly blessed that we have two healthy babies.  Again, it's never wasted on us.  

Beautiful, Beautiful Boy

It's a big day for Pea as we have our much anticipated appointment with the specialist. Wish us luck!

Signing

We have been signing with the babies for a few months now and, although they have not signed back to us, they are fully aware of what some of the hand signs mean. So far, they know:

Cat
Milk
Cookie
Cereal
More

We are working on:
Mom
Dad
Gramma
Grampa
Water
Please
Thank You
Diaper
Banana

We have the DVD Signing Time and the babies are starting to watch it with interest. We have also signed up for signing class through our local Ontario Early Years chapter and will attend class on Tuesdays with Catherine and Hannah. We know that this will encourage the babies' language development and will reduce frustration relevant to communication.  It's all very exciting to a language nut like me!

It's Official!

Pea's right front tooth broke through sometime during the night (his left one isn't far behind and I expect to see it in the next couple of days) and he already seems to be a much happier camper today. Phew!

Now, drum roll please....

We are officially a house of TWO crawlers!! Chick decided to move forward yesterday (instead of the backwards crawl she had been doing for the past week or so) and today we caught it on video. We tried everything to get her to come to me, but it was only her favorite toy (the remote control for the TV) that enticed her enough to make her move. Bear is currently running for his life.


 Crawling Chick from Two Kayaks on Vimeo.

Ultimate Blog Party 2010

I saw this event happening last year and thought it was a cool idea.  When I started seeing the banner pop up on friends' blogs this year, I thought I would join in on the fun.  Click on the banner above to find out more about it and join in if you would like to meet some great new people and have a chance to win some fun prizes.

Welcome to old friends and to anyone who is new to my blog.  I have been blogging since January of 2006 (under a different URL) and moved to the Two Kayaks' blog in June of 2007.  Between the two blogs, I have posted over a 1000 entries over the past few years.  I refer to myself as K1 and to my husband as K2 on the blog to keep our identities semi-private.  We have been married since August of 1996 and tried for years and years to have a family.  After having a go at various infertility treatments, we decided turn our attention toward international adoption in 2006.  When the wait times increased exponentially, we once again turned to some very helpful doctors who could help us build our family.  All we ever wanted was a family.

Finally, in December of 2008 we found ourselves pregnant with twins.After many years of failures and of losses it was difficult to put our faith in a pregnancy. Difficult doesn't even begin to cut it. However, on August 16th, 2009 two little miracles were born and our lives are fully immersed in all things baby. Pea (our son) was born first and Chick (our daughter) was born 40 minutes afterward. They are the lights of our lives.

I am a high school teacher who is currently on maternity leave and my husband works in the same high school as a custodian. We are very lucky to be able to work together.

These are a couple of the prizes I would LOVE to win:

1.   CmomGo is offering up a $200 Apple Gift certificate. 

2.   MomDot is offering up a $50 paypal cash prize for one winner.  Let it be moi!!

Laundry Day

 What?  Isn't this the way we all wash our babies?

When I told them I was using the "Spin Cycle" they tried to escape.

Big Guns, Submersion, and Recognition

Today, I brought in the big guns to help me handle the trials and tribulations of teething: Gramma and Grampa. They helped to entertain the babies, they held the babies, they fed the babies, brought over Infant Tylenol and Advil, and ran out to get some Baby Mu*m M*ums when we ran out. It was a BIG help and, though Pea was still not himself today, he was held a lot and was given tons of affection (as was Chick).  Pea's front tooth is just beneath the surface and I expect to see it make its debut tomorrow or the next day. As for his other front tooth, it's not coming in as quickly. His gums are swollen and the pressure must be painful.

Tonight was our third swimming lesson and the babies are really getting the hang of it.  The instructor took Chick and Pea individually at different points and said that they are really relaxed in the water. We also had an optional submerge and out of 10 babies, only one baby's mother opted not to submerge.  Chick and Pea were great with being dunked, although Chick had a bit of a panic attack for all of 3 seconds. Then she was back to her happy self.

Just before bed tonight, the babies realized that they could be great entertainment for one another. They have known about each other for a long while now and give big smiles to each other when they wake up from a nap, but tonight was the first time that they made each other giggle silly. It was the funniest thing EVER! I don't know what it was that made them laugh so much, but I sure had fun watching.
Pea was looking directly at Chick and Chick at Pea while they both belly laughed. Too cute!

 

What's So Funny? from Two Kayaks on Vimeo.

Poor Pea

To say that today has been a difficult day would be an understatement. Pea's two front teeth are about to cut through and he is miserable.

M.I.S.E.R.A.B.L.E.

This is the hard part of having twins. I wish I could have held him all day and could have comforted him by giving him my full attention, but there's a little Chick who needs me at the same time.
K2 is home now and the ratio of adults to babies has equalized.  Pea will now get the comforting he needs and Chick will get the attention she needs. 
Tomorrow will be better.  I hope.

Easter 2010

I can't remember having as wonderful a weekend as we had this Easter. The weather was amazing, the babies were happy to be outside every day, and we spent time with family and friends. It doesn't get any better than that.

Who's under that slick orange hat?

Pea!  He's all SPF'd up and ready to be out in the sunshine.

He managed to stay awake for this swing session.

Chick loves to swing, too!

Easter Sunday at Gramma and Grampa's house.

Oh, the humanity...

Pea had to succumb to the bunny ears as well.

Chick's A Busy Girl

Untitled from Two Kayaks on Vimeo.

Pea's Crawling!

It's more of an ugly army crawl, but he's moving and he's SO happy about it! He's also wanting to pull up to a standing position more and more. Sigh...he's growing up TOO quickly.


Crawling from Two Kayaks on Vimeo.