Happy Canada Day, Grandma!

For my precious little girls, I'm writing this post so that later in life, you may remember the amazing woman that your Grandma (McCourt) was.  You were truly fortunate to have known her, even if only for 20 months.

Canada Day 2012 marks one month since she was taken from us. 

Your Grandma was a happy soul who gave everything she had (and more) to promote the health and happiness of her immediate family and close friends.  She was the type of person that would have dropped everything to respond to your every beck and call.  And, she never expected anything in return.  She was a petite Chinese lady, but she left some big shoes for your Papa to fill (and I have absolute confidence that he will do just that).

Grandma's big shoes (at Bubba Gump Shrimp, Monterey)

Cyber visits from Grandma were a regular occurrence.  She often reminded me just how grateful she was to have Skype and FaceTime and to be able to watch her grandchildren grow despite the 3500 km gap between us.  Your first 2 years have been so full of changes (as it’s been documented in this blog).  Grandma watched you go through them all.  She would always be so sad if she missed a FaceTime call because she was outside of her wi-five zone (no matter how many times we told her it was WiFi, she insisted on calling it wi-five).

In the 20 months that you knew her, you had 6 good face-to-face visits.  I wish there could have been more.

1. First meeting, December 2010

When the two of you were born, taking care of you was a lot of work.  So, we welcomed as much help as we could get.  In the first 3 months we had help from your Auntie Kristy and both of your grandmothers.   Grandma McCourt was able to stay the whole month of December.  She loved holding you... the hard part was getting her to put you down.

 

2. Trip to Monterey, California, March 2011

As previously told about on this blog, you went on your first trip in March 2011 to San Francisco and Monterey, California.  Grandma came along to provide nanny and babysitting services.

Just before leaving San Francisco

You and Grandma, chillin' with a penguin in Monterey

3. Trip to Vancouver/Maui, May 2011

Shortly after coming back from California, we were off to Sechelt, Maui, and Regina.  Good thing you guys didn't mind air travel!

Hanging out with Grandma and Papa at their house

Family photo at Grandma and Papa's house

Beach babies in Maui

4. Your 1^st birthday party, October 2011

Grandma, Papa, Auntie Kristy, and Amber all came out from BC for your first birthday party. 

Grandma and her 3 granddaughters

Out at the park up the street

5. Your Great Grandmother’s Funeral, 20 April 2012 – 27 April 2012

The past 12 months have been pretty horrible.  First, losing our pug, then your Great Grandmother, then your Grandma.  In April we went to BC for a celebration of life in memory of your Great Grandma.  Despite being in Sechelt because of her passing, we had a great time with your grandparents.  

 

 

 A quick picture with Grandma before running off to play in the puddle

  

Our last family photo with Grandma 

6. The final visit, 15 May 2012 – 1 June 2012

We had just got settled back in Ottawa when Grandma got news that she was very ill, so the two of you, Gladys (our nanny), and I all jumped back on a plane for BC.  Fortunately, we were able to spend just over two weeks with her before she passed away.

Most days you would go and enjoy the large yard at your grandparent's place with Gladys, which allowed me to spend some quality time sitting and chatting with Grandma.  At the time, she wasn't very mobile, so she had a walker to assist her, and the two of you loved that thing.  Whenever you saw it, you'd say "broom broom", jump on it, and wait for someone to give you a ride.

After bath time every night, you'd just barely get your diaper on before running down the hallway towards Grandma's room.  Then you'd try and climb up on her bed and chairs while I tried to get you changed, read you stories, and try and calm you down before bed.  The video below shows you running around Grandma's bed just before bed time.

When I finally was able to calm you down, we'd do our round of hugs and kisses and then off to bed.  By the end of your last two weeks with Grandma, you were just starting to say "Gamma" (and you already had "Papa" perfected).

Your grandmother was an amazing woman.  Ask me about her from time to time.  I have many great memories to share.

-          Marcus Tullius Cicero (in Grandma’s handwriting)

She was taken before her time by a vile disease, but her soul will live on in our fondest memories.

Love,
Your Dad

18 months and thriving

Have you seen these girls at Walmart?

So, the girls had their 18 month check-up the other day.  The little sluggers weigh in at 24 and 25 lbs (~50th-percentile), and are 32.5" tall (~75th-percentile).

The pediatrician gave us a gentle slap on the wrist for our feeding practices.  Before the check-up, meal time was slowly becoming a game of "distract the toddler with toys and TV while we try and feed them".  This resulted in the girls sitting in the high chair for about an hour every meal.  Now, we have completely cut off any TV, minimized toys, and reduced meal time to 30 minutes.  So, sometimes the girls end up leaving the high chair having eaten very little, but in the peditrician's words: "they have enough reserves".  I think it's just because they were wearing a small shirt and their belly was sticking out.

In other news, the girls are taking advantage of the nice weather we've been having.  We recently got them a bouncy castle, a slide, and a water table: the start to our backyard playground.  The girls are getting really good at climbing up and sliding down the slide.  They're also great at spilling all the water out of the water table and onto their clothes.

Bug ridin' in the park

Too tired: couldn't wait until we lifted them into bed

Goofballs

Just wanted to do a quick up date on the girls.

The girls decided to get into the crossfire the other day without any help and Naomi took the driver seat while Keira took the passenger seat! 

The girls are also doing some really goofball stuff and we captured it on video! They babble lots to each other, do silly faces and dance moves. Here's a cute video of them.




We also spoiled the girls and bought them a bouncy castle so that they could jump and slide in the backyard.  I can't wait until the summer when the girls' friend's come over for a bouncy castle party.  Lots of fun for years to come:)




I bought the girls some 'Mini pas' shoes, I had no idea that they were soo popular.  I'm so glad I found these shoes at a used kids sale, its a hit with the girls.  They love walking in them!!



As you can see, my house is like a daycare, I tried to get rid of toys on a monthly basis, by selling or giving them away but it doesn't make a difference. I have a daycare in my house!

On another random note, I just found out two of my girlfriends are having twins!!  AND one of my girlfriends used to be my best friend in elementary school!! I've known her since kindergarten. What are the chances?!!  Exciting times.

Easy Peasy..almost

The girls are approaching 18 months old..and getting really heavy, almost 24 lbs each.  Keira is only 1/2 lb different from Naomi now.. I attribute to Keira's growth spurt to a lot of asian meatballs and breakfast sausages.  All of their 18 month old sleepers have been stretched to the max too, yet the girls legs are still too short to wear the next size up.  Further, a lot of their shirts are belly poppers..I think the girls bodies are like Rick, they all have long torsos.

Naomi and Keira are starting to look out for each other. Its super cute.  They hug each other, play with the same toys at the request of the other twin, pretend to talk to each other on the phone, and oddly understand each other with their babbles. For example, Naomi noticed her sister was crying today at the gym but couldn't see her, so she started looking for her in a worried manner.  On another occasion, Keira started crying playing with a toy, so Naomi tried to comfort her by hugging her!! Super cute.

Today we had an awesome playtime day. It started off with the girls going to an indoor play gym in the morning, followed by playing in the deck, then eating almost naked in their highchairs, followed by a lot of walking around the park.  Keira loved the slides and Naomi loved venturing off in million directions.  I think she circled the park 3 or 4 times in a span of 20 minutes.  She is definitely not shy nor scared of adventure but Keira is much easier to take care of :)




Rick and I were just saying to each other how easy it is to take care of the girls now, and it only gets easier from here on!  I can't believe I'm saying it now.  The first year was definitely hard, in fact, tremendously chaotic, stressful, demanding, and exhausting, BUT I have two beautiful girls now, who are best buds for life, how can life get any better?!

A couple of clowns

The girls are almost 17 months old and are tons of fun. They're learning something new every day, so here's a few of the highlights that come to mind while writing this.

Above is a picture of the girls goofing around just before bed. One always tries to do what the other one is doing, and that night they were having a "hanging upside down" competition, which later turned into a head shaking competition, and then a jumping up and down competition. I eventually had to just say good night and leave them to their fun. They ended up jumping around, giggling, and screaming for another half hour before finally falling asleep.

Bath time is also tons of fun, but be prepared to get wet if you sit in the front row. Splash competitions! And they don't hold anything back. But it's hard not to laugh along with them when you see the giggle fit they get into when they're splashing.

Usually, when I get home, the girls get excited and try and climb the gate at the top of the stairs. Lately, they've also been adding a couple of twirls, mixed with screams and hand clapping. And today, when I got home, Naomi even did a little dance. Over the previous weekend I was able to catch some of their sweet dance moves on video.

More excitement to come! :)

Independence!

The girls are declaring independence!!  Lots of big changes are happening again.  I love it!  Just recently, they started understanding what Rick and I are saying!!  I have no idea how it started, it just happened in a span of a couple of weeks.  For example, if I say its time's up to eat, they start heading to their highchairs.  They also understand where their toes, ears, belly buttons are :) I love these changes.  I told Rick that the next two steps I'm looking forward too are: 1) they can go downstairs by themselves (they are getting way too heavy!!) 2) they can feed themselves

During their 15 month check up, they are average in height and weight BUT they are 97th percentile in head sizes.  So my girls have GIANT heads.  I expect big brains :)

As for eating, I'm getting super excited that they are eating more adult food.  Its a huge step for me since they throw up so easily when they don't like something...I think they are starting to grow out of it :)  They ate lasagna last night (and a portion size equivalent to an adult each) plus vegetables plus congee, WOW.  Rick has been doing a great job introducing new foods while I've been on travel, he's a great father and 'mother' while I'm away.  I'm very lucky.

Here are a couple of videos showing their independence!

Christmas Holidays!!!

 
 


We all flew home to Regina for the Christmas holidays.  The girls had a great time visiting their grandparents, uncle, aunt and close friends.  They also attended a great party at Lee's Chop Suey, celebrating my brother's marriage.  Although the focus of the party should have been on my brother, unfortunately, the girls stole the show as usual.  They loved toddling around the restaurant, batting their eyes at all the guests, saying hi and giggling.  They were having so much fun they didn't want to leave.  We had to drag them away from the restaurant.

The girls also loved spending an afternoon at Dino Bounce (a gym full of inflatable castles).  They loved going down the slide, and falling all over the place, but not getting hurt.  And mid way through their time there, they learned how to break free from the castle and roam around the place, chasing after other kids and butting in line.

Before leaving for holidays we took this video of the girls and their new hats:



And here's a video of the girls just before going to sleep on Christmas eve: