This week Lily has taken huge strides in her journey to become a walker and it is so much fun! First of all, when we used to set her down on the floor she would always buckle her legs and want to sit. This week she's decided she wants to stand and she will, steadily, for a few minutes. She's also started to get to standing by herself (without using any assistance to get up!) and a few days ago I tricked her into taking her first step and she did it without falling! This little girl will catch up to Juliette in no time!
Yesterday I took the girls to Grandma and Grandpa's house to visit for a little while. They are having a garage sale this weekend so they were enjoying hanging out outside and playing with all the "stuff". We went home with a guitar and a small trampoline so they've been having fun with those. Now if I can learn to play we'd be all set for singing their favorite songs!
Speaking of songs, there was an anonymous request in the comments (most likely from Grandma Laurine) to mention how much the girls love singing. They LOVE it. Their favorite song is "Wheels on the Bus" and they love to do all the movements and clap their hands. They get so happy whenever we sing. Unfortunately, half the time Maia tells me to stop singing because it makes her sad, but we have fun the other half.
Couch to 5k update. Somehow they think it'd be a good idea for me to run 20 minutes straight tonight with no walking. Say what!? We'll see how that goes - I sure wish it wasn't muggy.
I decided to take the girls out for lunch today and we ended up at the healthiest food establishment I can think of: McDonalds! Now, I really meant to take them to Rosedale mall to get to Stride Rite to get Juliette some new walking shoes but by the time I got everybody out of the door it was already 11:15. The girls can't eat much later than 11:30 before they start melting down. I decided to forego the shoes for now and we ended up a few blocks away at Mickey D's. Never again!
So you have to understand that the only way to get three little girls under the age of 3 into a restaurant is to use a stroller (Ben and I finally purchased a lightweight double a couple of months ago). We got out of the car and I packed the girls in the stroller and their milks in my purse and held Maia's hand and we crossed the parking lot to the door. Our double stroller can fit into a standard size doorway without any trouble but McDonald's decided that it would be a brilliant idea to brick out a planter right before the door (against the building) with a railing on the other side of the door. So now there is about a 2 ft walkway to get into a 3 ft door. What am I supposed to do? How do wheelchairs get inside this place? I ended up turning the stroller horizontal and shimmying it into the space while trying to hold the door open for myself and Maia and trying not to smash the girls' hands.
We finally got in. Thanks everyone who didn't help us who was just standing there - that was really nice. I ordered and it took about 10 minutes because the guy behind the counter had no idea what he was doing. While the food was being prepared, I got the girls situated. This McDonald's thinks it's a great idea to bolt their seats to the floor so Maia couldn't comfortably reach the table and I couldn't move chairs out of the way for two high chairs. I finally got our food, got seated and realized that the guy forgot something in our order so I had to run up there (without the kids) and get it. I hate to do that because you never know what'll happen! We ate our lunch then Maia "accidentally" spilled her chocolate milk all over herself and the floor. We finally got cleaned up and shimmied our way out only to realize we forgot the Happy meal toy. Too bad
I'm kicking myself for not updating more often. I know I'll look back on these days and wish I had. My goal is to update today and tomorrow and we'll go from there.
Things are good! Ben's 30th birthday was last Thursday and we celebrated with friends on Saturday. It was really great to see everyone and we enjoyed Famous Dave's and Dairy Queen ice cream cake (decorated with baby Mickey Mouse --what can I say, their selection was limited). Can't go wrong.
Lily and Juliette are doing great. Juliette is so opinionated. She lately enjoys pointing at things she wants to play with or look at and saying "uh." If she doesn't get her way, watch out! She's working on more teeth and her sleeping is spotty but the good news is that she has been able to put herself to sleep at night and at nap more often now! I always nurse her before she goes down but occasionally when she is riled up she doesn't fall asleep so I put her in her crib and 50% of the time she just plays until she does. I consider this progress! Lily is our perfect napper. She's still taking 2 naps/day but I can just lay her down with her lovey and she'll fall right asleep. She's my nap angel! Lily has been so smiley lately and she just loves to sit on people's laps. Both girls are getting more into books so it's nice to be able to read them stories without them trying to eat each book!
Maia is doing well. She's learning so much every day and she really thrives on routines. If we don't do something just as we usually do or just as she likes it she melts down. She is daytime potty trained now (except bed and naps) so that is such a blessing to have taken care of. She loves her underwear. She won't go #2 in the potty ever (she waits til morning and naps) but I'm confident we'll get there. We think she has a bladder or yeast infection right now so I'll take her to the doctor tomorrow and see what they say. Hopefully it's easily treatable! We have had friends over often lately and Maia loves to play with other kids.
I'm still doing my running program. It's so nice to get out of the house by myself and just go. I always feel so good afterward! I have been doing it for almost 5 weeks now and I haven't had to skip or repeat a day. I did go to an orthopedic doctor since my knees were bothering me but right after I went it stopped so hopefully I'm good to go now. Today I ran 15 minutes (3 sets of 5 minutes each with a little walking in between) and I was able to finish. It helps that the weather is cooperating!
Ben's mom is here visiting right now and the kids are sure enjoying playing with their grandma. She leaves on Tuesday but she's coming back for Maia's birthday.
Things are good here. I think I mentioned that Juliette is down to one nap. Lily is still doing two so I'm looking forward to when she's at one as well so that they can all sleep at the same time and I can get some consistent downtime during the day! Plus then I'll feel better about taking the kids out in the morning without worrying about them getting enough sleep.
Both girls are still teething. Lily has all of her teeth except her canines and 2 year molars and Juliette is missing a molar and an incisor (but is working on two others). Teething is not my favorite part of babyhood that's for sure! Speaking of teeth, Lily has started biting and hitting and Juliette pinches. I'm trying to figure out how to discourage the biting since I don't often see it but I know it's happening because Juliette had a few teeth marks on her leg and back the other day. When J pinches or Lily hits I try to put them down and ignore them for a bit but so far it hasn't really been working well. I'll keep trying.
Developmentally the girls are doing well. Lily still isn't walking but she's able to stand alone for longer periods of time. I'm still not worried since I know she's strong and is progressing. They're both doing well with receptive communication. They can tell me where their belly, arm, feet and hair are and sort of know others. They know quite a few words and can usually follow simple commands. Lily isn't quite as vocal as Juliette who can sort of say several words now but it'll come.
I need to make an appointment for the girls to see a pediatric eye doctor because they both appear to have the same problem Maia did with a blocked tear duct. I know after they turn a year it's less likely to go away on it's own but it seemed to for Maia thankfully (we had her surgery scheduled and everything but then I went on bedrest and things got crazy). It's supposed to be a quick thing so we'll see what the doctor says.
The end of July is a big ol family birthday time for us. Ben's mom's
birthday is July 26th, my dad's birthday is July 30, my mom's birthday
is August 2 and Ben turns 30 on August 12. We took my parents out to
dinner on Saturday to celebrate and Ben's mom is coming to visit over
Ben's birthday so we'll celebrate theirs then. Maia sings "Happy
Birthday" all the time now - she can't wait for people to have
birthdays (especially HER birthday!) and she's constantly telling me
happy birthday just so she has an excuse to "make me a birthday" (cake)
and sing me a song. It's pretty cute.
Couch to 5k update: I'm still doing it. I'm now in week three so I'm running 90 seconds, walking 90 seconds, running 3 minutes (killer), walking 3 minutes. Repeat for 20 minutes with a 5 min warmup and 5 min cooldown. I always feel great after it's over but I seem to be having a problem with my knees. They're sore for about 10 minutes into running (then it stops) and they're sore for the next few days until I run again. I did get some new shoes since I have no arches and I overpronate so that's helped.
I know I keep adding non-sequitor things to the end of my entries but I keep thinking of stuff! I don't remember if I mentioned this but we finally sold our house! We closed on July 15th. It's bittersweet but I'm so thankful that we sold it quickly and that it went through with no problems. In this market it's a blessing but it will be difficult for me to think of it as someone else's home. I hope that they take great care of it and love it like we did.
