Happy birthday blaze

Happy Birthday Blaze! Our eldest is 9 years old! Brendan found him a stick in the woods and we mushed doggie treats into a piece of bread for his big day :)  He was characteristically low key about the whole celebration.

We are a much healthier household these days. The twins say thank you for all the well wishes. Heidi and Harrison both weathered their first illnesses like champs and truly never seemed terribly bothered by the various things they were expelling . I assume they had the same stomach virus from the timing of it, but I'm fascinated that the same bug can present so differently depending on the person (Heidi : top end, Harrison : bottom end). Once again, they are twins but opposites!

Recuperating

My mother always said the key to a speedy recovery was lots of rest..

Under quarantine

Sadly we are a sick house. Harrison has had a stomach virus for about a week. Luckily it doesn't seem to have bothered him at all, just whoever has to change his diapers! Robs been bothered by a sore throat and red eyes and went to the doctor friday to get checked out. Then Friday night at the neighbors, Heidi had the first two of three projectile vomiting episodes. Real "Exorcist"  stuff. John and Tiff, I am soooo sorry about your couch. She threw up once more Saturday morning and has seemed pretty good since then. I got into the action with a sore, rolling tummy last night that has lasted through the day. How is it that the only person in the house with less a than perfect hand washing record is the healthy one?!?

In a totally unrelated topic, the twins are starting to hold their bottles!

Enjoying spring

Another gorgeous day! We tried the stroller with no car seats today and the twins came down to the end of the driveway to pick Brendan up off the bus with me. They looked very grown up indeed. Our only issue is going to be fighting over the front seat. It's much roomier and Harrison, displeased with being put in back, spent the whole time kicking his sister 's chair. Ah siblings ...

Glorious March break

Wow! Could it be any nicer out? Heidi is celebrating with a spring frock!

You might think the travel obsessed Locks might have gone somewhere exotic on brendans first March break, but Rob had firefighter training for the township  volunteer fire department so we hung out close to home, and introduced the twins to warm weather with lots of walks outside. Brendan was keen on riding his bike, and then hanging out in the driveway to "work on it " with his tools. Like father like son!

We finally hit the road this weekend and went to Mont blanc near Montreal to teach Brendan to ski. It was a very precious picture seeing him all geared up! He was bored by his lesson but thrilled when dad agreed to take him to the top of the mountain on the chair lift. Rob held on to him all the way down, but it was a great first experience for him! We went with our friends Heather and Blaine and split ski days between parents. Yesterday was possibly the most glorious day of downhill skiing I have ever had. It was 20 degrees, and I was skiing in my T-shirt... crazy!! I've even got the sunburn to prove it!

The twins helped me start some spring cleaning: they've grown out of bouncy chairs and swaddling blankets and nursing pillows (sadly, they've started to wean themselves despite my long lectures about the cost of formula). Swaddling blankets are definitely out, since I've gotten up twice in the night this week to find that Heidi has rolled onto her tummy and can't get back, poor thing!

Well, from our family to yours, Happy Spring!

7 Months Old!!

I don't know which cliche to start with - the "holy cow, they grow so fast" or "sorry I haven't posted for ages"... We had a lovely quiet weekend at the cottage last weekend, and are up in Ripley visiting Bob and Gail and Mike and Tara and baby Ellie. So many cute photo ops!

Brendan digging for loonies in a pile of wood chips at our township Family Day celebrations. Don't laugh! He found 4 dollars!

Hawaiian Heidi

Seeing Double. It's fun to try to get them swinging in sync.

Going, going...

Gone!!!

Brendan all geared up in his ski goggles and helmet ready to ride his GT snow racer tobogganing. Overkill? No, he likes to be pulled behind his Dad on the fourwheeler.

Brendan sandwich

Heidi sitting up on the couch. This has not been repeated off of the couch environment, so I may have been a little hasty in declaring Heidi to be sitting up on her own. She's certainly working on it though!

And finally, their 7 month Paddington Bear picture. Heidi seems to be lengthening out and catching up to Harrison, but he's still much more solid. We call him Mr. Meatball!

Heidi Sits Up!

Heidi sat up on her own! Well, sort of. On the couch, so fairly well supported, but still! You'd think I'd have a picture but it's buried on the other camera. Harrison still only wants to stand up straight. He looks like he may never sit up alone, since that involves bending in the middle. Another exciting milestone on Saturday; all 3 children stayed with our neighbourhood babysitter (plus an extra teenager, just so she wasn't too terribly outnumbered) while we went out bowling with the neighbours. And... everybody survived! Even the babysitters! It sounded like an uneventful night, and if we can ever afford to pay two babysitters for a full night again we'll do it for sure, haha. We've had a fun week with my Mom and Dad this week, with lots of train track building for Granny. Harrison seems totally fascinated with Grandads beard. We've been saying goodbye to some of our favourite outfits, so taking pictures of them seems to be the best way of preserving them for posterity. The blue pit crew uniform on Harrison was one of our favourites from Brendans era. Sigh...

Another Weigh In

We had a L.M.A.O. get together yesterday (Lonsdale Mothers Advice Organization, or Lonsdale Mothers Aggravation Outlet, depending on the day) and one mom has a scale so we have a new set of weights for the twins. These are a little bit of an overestimate since both children were still dressed and diapered, but Harrison weighed in at 18 pounds even (!!) and Heidi rang in at a respectable 14.8 pounds (so what, about 13/14 ounces!). They just never cease to amaze me. Harrison is fully into his 6 month clothes now, but slight little Heidi still fits nicely into her 3 month outfits. I'm going to have to dress her in bigger things less I miss the boat on those outfits all together! In other huge news, Heidi rolled over yesterday! Several times. Once these kids master a concept, they certainly like to practice it. Things they do not like to practice - eating chicken. The current thinking with solids is to start with cereals, and then move onto meats. So, Heidi and Harrison have been happily smearing rice and oatmeal around their faces (I don't think they're actually ingesting much, but the mess is rather impressive after each meal), that means next came Chicken. Chicken smells awful. I will admit that from a parental perspective. Judging from Heidi's face, it tastes even worse than it smells. It's like torturing them, Rob and I feel fairly bad at meal times now. On the flip side, we let them each taste hummus today (protein rich, after all)and they both seemed very interested, going back for several tries. Maybe anything tastes good after baby food chicken...

Febrary Photo Post

Here's a collection of this month's highlights (can you tell it's been a nice quiet family day weekend with time to upload photos off of the camera?). We had a fabulous day on Friday when we took the twins swimming for the first time; they did unexpectedly well considering Heidi wails through every bath. She was even allowing us to float her on her back by the time we were done, but it took 45 minutes to work up to that. Harrison splashed and laughed the whole time! We timed it carefully to coincide with a school day for Brendan, thank goodness for school. We were at home this weekend so Rob could play in a "snowball" tournament yesterday. Pictures will explain that, if you're confused. No injuries from falling on the ice, thank goodness. Brendan was more interested in putting his snow plow to work than watching baseball. When we got home, we cleared the entire ice sheet beside our house (remaining from the all the freezing rain we've had since January). I'm exhausted...

Tummy Time for Mr. Drooly Pants

...and the prize for oddest craft goes to; Tomato Snowmen (thanks Curious George Christmas Special)

Heidi and Harrison waiting at the Doctor for their 6 month checkups

The twins 6 month picture with Paddington

Seriously? This rice stuff is BLAND. I am not going to get excited about rice.

The twins newest cousin - Elyse Deborah Lock, born 7lbs, 7ozs, a whole month early!!!!

Brendan with Elyse "You're Soooo Tiny"

Sweet Baby Ellie

Brendan likes to pretend to be my parent's dog Dougald a lot, and was in heaven when his hero actually came to visit...

Heidi and Granny

Our little race car drivers at Heather and Blaine's new house

Our Valentines Lunch for 4

Rob's new Valentine (:

"This mat is getting crowded!"

In the world of cute things for little baby girls, the teensy bathing suit may be king...

Future Occupation - snow plow operator?

Rob and sons

Just having a quiet day at home trying to bond with our kids. This was plan B since Brendan refused to leave the house to participate in plan A (going for a family swim). Here is Rob studying his firefighting course with his sons. Heidi is asleep, which is a miracle. This is about day 5 of Heidi's refusal to sleep which has been a bit exhausting. Not sure whether she's teething, having a growth spurt but by the time we figure it out it'll be over!

Harrison rolled over!

Harrison rolled over! It's only happened once, and I was napping but rob managed to snap a picture. Heidi rolls to her side lots, but with a totally different technique. I'm constantly fascinated by how same, but different they are!

Happy Valentine's day! Rob and I celebrated a day early with lunch at Aquaterra in Kingston (best deal ever - $13 for a 3 course gourmet meal! ). We figured that since Brendan was in school it would be a quiet romantic meal for two with the babies asleep in their car seats. Not so much. We have to learn that the twins are not the predictable, sleepy angel baby Brendan was. It was a lovely, lively meal for the four of us! Heidi wasn't happy until she was sitting on daddy's lap. I think rob has two Valentine's this year (:

Food!

Solids! What fun. It was not nearly as messy as I'd worried - no raspberries and spitting  yet! The only challenge is finding a time when they're both hungry ... we were hoping pablum would help them sleep longer but it seems like caffeine to Heidi. She has absolutely refused to fall asleep during the day for two days. Strange. And worrisome to our general sanity...

Welcome to our neice!

What a lovely way to spend a middle of the night feeding; we got word from Rob's brother Mike last night at 4 am that our new niece had been born! She was a month early, and 7 lbs 7 ozs! Lookout world! This girl likes to do things her own way already!! It was a very dramatic entrance at that. Tara went into labour while Mike was away in Sault Ste. Marie on work and he had an epic race back through the Northern Ontario darkness in a rented Dodge Charger to make it to the hospital in time for the delivery. It's the kind of stuff the car obsessed Lock men dream about. I'm glad that neither the OPP or deer intervened. So, we welcome the littlest Lock and we are beyond thrilled! Heidi will have a partner in crime now at family get togethers; no chance of the boys ganging up on them! :) Many congrats to Mike and Tara!

Weigh in!

Heidi and Harrison had their six month weigh in this morning. Harrison is a whopping 16 lbs 2 Oz
and Heidi measures in at a dainty 13 lbs 8 ozs. Harrison has widened the gap between them. At the rate of a half pound a month he'll be twice her size in... well, ill let you do the math, haha.

Out of interest, Brendan was 14 lbs 14 ozs at his 6 month check up, half way between his siblings. Neat!

First Day Away

Well we did it, took the big plunge, left all 3 kids with somebody for the day and went skiing. It was glorious! My brother, his wife and 2 kids looked after Brendan and the twins on Saturday while we went to Camp Fortune to use gift certificates they had given us. Everybody survived nicely, and John even managed to look after both twins alone for the afternoon. He's making it look like it's not that hard; I guess the cat's out of the bag now! It was a lovely weekend in the snow, and whetted our appetite to try arranging another trip out downhill skiing this winter... fingers crossed! Twins still haven't rolled over, but Heidi has been working on a different task this week. On the weekend she suddenly found a new octave! A really, really high one. It's hard to tell that she's not crying, except to look at her, because then you see that she smiles with glee after each emphatic squeal. It's like living with a pterodactyl. A really happy pterodactyl. Brendan does not have Kindergarten this Friday so we're off to the cottage tomorrow morning for a long weekend. We'll be packing double layers of fleece for all the babies to keep them warm, and hoping for enough snow to look pretty but not so much that can't smash through and drive our 4 wheel drive truck in close to the cottage. Fingers crossed!