Grandma Martin and Grandpa Maclean rented a condo south of Kona on Hawaii for a month and invited Loren, Vicky, Madeline, Bowen, Davis, and our family to visit for a portion of their stay.
On February 18th Janet and I packed up the twins and boarded a plane for Hawaii. This would be the last time that the twins would be flying on our lap as opposed to having a seat for themselves and thank goodness for that! The flight to Hawaii was horrendous. Despite the fact that it was a late night flight, and well past the twins bedtime, they were both up for most of the flight with constant screaming and flailing and writhing and whining. Eileen in particular is not big on being held so holding her on your lap for 6+ hours is simply a recipe for disaster. However, we survived, rented a van and headed south into the country to find the condo in the middle of the night.
February in Calgary was a cold month, but we luckily spent 10 days of it in Hawaii. The kids had a lot of fun playing in the sand and ocean. Kyle is working on a separate Hawaii post. Stay tuned.
The twins started a new day care/Montessori school on March 4. The adjustment was easier for the twins than for Kyle and I. We now have to pack lunches and snacks. It is a lot of work at this age, as they can be picky eaters. But enrollment in the early Montessori program guarantees the twins a spot in the older program, and we want the kids to be in the Montessori program for the next 3-4 years. All snacks have to be fruits and vegetables, which is a great, and the kids are adjusting (Ewan likes cucumbers and they both love kiwi). They greet the teacher every morning with a handshake, and will eventually say good morning Ms. Sharma while making eye contact. I love the approach!
The first day at Montessori Ewan came home with a new skill- kissing! he runs up and gives us kisses. Eileen just started kissing us around early April. It’s very sweet, but a bit gross with the snotty noses! Ewan is really into hugging, and Eileen shows her affection by standing very close and leaning into you. Although, just this week Eileen has been hugging us (and Grandma Renee and Grandpa Ken who are visiting this week).
They continue to bite each other at home, but so far only one incident at day care (Eileen bite another kid). They fight over toys and push each other, mostly when they are hangry, but sometimes just because of frustration. Ewan bit Eileen yesterday after dinner, and Eileen only wanted Grandma Renee to console her. Both Eileen and Ewan are very excited the Maclean/Martin Grandparents are vising, they like the extra attention. They are sad to go to bed because they can see the Grandparents in the living.
Sometimes they play really well together.
slide that Auntie Di and Uncle Jer found for the twinsthey love their comfy chairs
Speaking of bedtime, we are extremely lucky both kids have been sleeping 11 hours in a row for 10 months now. They will wake up when they are sick or in pain. The week of March 9, both kids were sick with a gastro bug. Poor Eileen threw up all Saturday night, and neither kid ate much that week. Which was stressful for me, because Kyle was out of town for work. Kyle is out of town for work again this week, but I have support and help from Grandma Renee and Grandpa Ken.
All of Grandma’s babies together!
This winter has been one illness after another. We are all sick again with a respiratory bug, going on 10 days. We’ve had three different gastro bugs and a handful of colds.
Kyle and I took the afternoon of March 22 off work. We met with our financial advisor, and then went for a long bike ride up Nose Hill Park. We picked the kids up from daycare and went to a family friendly pub for early dinner. It was such a fun afternoon!
4th Spot Pub
Eileen continues to show her fierce independence. We place her dinner near her, within arms reach, so she can make the choice to bring the food onto her tray to eat. If we put the food directly on her tray, she immediate throws the whole dish onto the floor, no matter what the food is (mac and cheese- overboard). She also likes to pick her own outfits, and often Ewan’s too. If she doesn’t like something or is unhappy she lets you know. She is very happy when she is in control and can make her own choices (she likes to pick which bib to eat with or which water bottle to drink from). Eileen loves being comfy, sitting on the couch under blankets drinking her milk. Eileen loves shoes and hat. When she pretends the remote is a phone, she loudly babbles into it. When Ewan pretends the remote is a phone, he softy babbles.
Ewan has a gentle personality, and just loves life. He walks around smiling and giggling. Ewan can kick a soccer ball around, very impressive. If you are crouched down hugging Eileen, Ewan will run up and hug you from behind, so it’s a hug sandwich.
They are both into stuffed animals, hugging and rocking them in their arms. They both still love music and dancing. They are both really into building blocks and pretending everything is a car. They drive the ‘cars’ over all surfaces making zzzzffffffoooo noises. Bath time is a lot of fun!
The twins love being outside and exploring the yard or playground. They also love climbing on furniture (couches, tables chairs). Ewan follows Eileen most places. We were at the park last weekend and Eileen just decided to start walking away, and Ewan followed. Luckily she went down a quiet straight alley, and I was able to keep them together. We go to the park every weekend. One time Ewan was watched a bigger kid on the round swing, and after a minute he ran over and copied his positioning, he was so proud of himself.
this look on Eileen’s face is priceless and totally genuine
Eileen has a larger vocabulary than Ewan. I feel like their verbal language skills are not as developed as their peers, but their comprehension appears to be similar. Eileen was picking up lots of words when we were in Hawaii, like gecko!
The twins turn 2 next week, hopefully I will blog about it!
Yesterday the babies went swimming for their first time! My friend has a pool in her apartment building, so it was really low key and casual. Both Eileen and Ewan remained very calm and unfazed by the whole experience. They kicked their legs and splashed their arms around. They didn’t smile a whole lot, but I think they were just taking in the experience. We can’t wait to go again!
Ewan and Eileen enjoyed their first Christmas. Actual Christmas day was spent on Vancouver Island with my family, but we got some photos of Eileen and Ewan opening gifts at our house back in Calgary. Kyle carried on his family’s tradition of preparing a venison tourtière for Christmas Eve dinner, and Grandma Shivas made an Acadian Chicken Fricot. Christmas Day was full of family, fun and good food. There were 14 of us at Christmas family dinner. We had a great time!
The twins turned 8 months old two days ago! Eileen is really into sitting, puking, reaching for and sucking on things. She seriously throws up all the time. She happily sits, supported with pillows, for over an hour playing with toys. Ewan is backward crawling, rolling over, planking, bending his body, reaching for and licking things. Anytime something comes close to Ewan’s mouth he sticks his tongue out trying to lick it (it’s absolutely adorable). Ewan spends most of his time on his front side and Elieen spends most of her time sitting up. Ewan is able to sit as well, he’s just prefers being on his front. They both like sucking on their feet (and sometimes mine!). Changing diapers is an adventure, they both want to roll over and grab anything on the changing table (including the dirty diaper), they either keep their legs completely straight or totally bent. If you aren’t quick enough they grab the poop with their hands, and then you have a real mess to clean up.
My parents were here for almost 2 weeks while Kyle was preparing for and out hunting. Time went by really quickly. We tackled some house projects (stripping and sealing the slate floors, painting doors, and hanging Xmas lights). I was also able to venture out on my own for a dentist appointment and lunch with a friend.
My parents soaked up as much baby love and snuggles as they possibly could! It was nice to give my body a break. As always my parents were extremely helpful with dinners, babies, laundry and other house stuff.
My parents brought the babies to the curling rink on Thursday to watch part of my game. Ewan was the hit of the lounge, he was smiling at everyone, especially the ladies.
Ewan was experiencing teething pain the last 5 days my parents were here, he wasn’t sleeping very much at night. It was nice for me to have extra support during these sleepless nights.
On our way to the airport to drop off Grandma and Grandpa Shivas.
Eileen and Ewan are 7 months old today. Eileen lifted herself up from leaning against my leg and sat up on her own today. Ewan rolls, flips and pushes himself up with ease. He started backwards crawling a couple days ago. Ewan smiles all the time now and is very excited to see new people. He loves standing. Eileen laughs out loud, is ticklish and is still an amazing sleeper. Both of their eyelashes are thicker now, and the hair on their head is starting to grow. Eileen loves being outside and looking at trees through the window. They both have a strong grip and love playing with tactile and visually stimulating toys. They bring everything to their mouth. They mostly eat fruit and vegetables but they have tried salmon, peanut butter, rice, eggs, elk, pesto, scallops and halibut.
October 28 was our first night sleeping in a separate room from the babies, up until then we either bed shared or they slept in their baby boxes beside a queen bed (which was set up in their room). It was time for the babies to move out of their boxes and into a bigger sleeping space. We only had one crib so they shared for the first couple of weeks. The first time we put Eileen in the big crib she rolled from side to side giggling and screeching with joy, then we split the crib in two and she looked visible unimpressed. She made it quite clear she wanted her own crib. Over the weekend we got a second crib and this week we got a second mattress. The crib is a bit damaged along the top railing so I made the covers shown in the picture. Two nights ago was their first time sleeping in separate cribs, and everything went really well. We could hear them babbling at each other through the monitor. We could also hear Ewan making spit bubbles and Eileen breathing heavily through her mouth.
Sadly I didn’t take a picture of the room before with the baby boxes and the queen bed.
Both Eileen and Ewan started napping for 2 hours at the same time! The same time! The first time it happened I stood in the living room unsure what to do with myself. Now I do dinner prep and laundry… haha the glamorous lifestyle I live!! All kidding aside I am very grateful for the little bit of solo downtime.
