Delay & disappointment

If you’ve been following this blog at all, you know that we just bought a duplex, and that I’m super excited about moving out of our apartment and into our new home.  We signed the papers & got our keys on Monday, and we were supposed to take possession yesterday.  Unfortunately, we hit a snag; the previous owners (who happen to be co-workers of mine) have been renovating before they move in to their new house, and their contractors were overly optimistic/duplicitous about finishing their work on time.  To make a long story short, they asked if they could stay on for another week, offering to pay us market rent for the extra time, and we agreed.  We’re doing them a big favour, since they have small children and nowhere else to live right now, and since we’re not planning on actually moving until the end of April, this isn’t even a huge inconvenience for us… but it’s quite disappointing.  

Anyway, everything else is fine – the kids are happy and healthy (knock on wood!), and work and school respectively are going well for me and my husband.  I brought Elijah to the Ear, Nose & Throat specialist yesterday, who has put him on antibiotics to hopefully clear up the fluid in his ears.  After that, he’ll have a hearing test done, and he’ll be re-evaluated to see if he needs to get tubes (or grommets, if you’re British) in his ears.  William is also going to be checked out, since they have identical ears, and if Eli needs tubes, I bet Will does too.  

Charlie had her friend Annabel over after school yesterday for a playdate.  The two girls happily played with Charlie’s Playmobil toys for an hour and then dressed up in outlandishly feminine outfits and chased each other around the apartment, to the delight of Elijah and William.  Here are the two friends, still in their school uniforms:

Here’s a close-up of the surreal scene Charlotte was creating (note the pirate relaxing in the deckchair):

We were blessed with another beautiful spring day today, so we spent the afternoon at the Secret Park.  Here is Eli (in green) coaching William (wearing brown) on climbing, plus a little impromptu dance party:

William also enjoyed the teeter-totter, which is a lot harder to reach now that the snow is gone:

Both boys also spent a fair amount of time attempting to feed leaves and sticks to the mangy-looking dog which lives on the other side of the park fence:

One last note: I’ve added a Twitter feed to the blog, as you can see on the right; this displays my Twitter updates as I create them, giving you a micro-update of our lives between blog posts.  Very exciting, I know.

Sunny Sunday

Yesterday, we took advantage of the sunshine and visited the Secret Park.  Our time there is starting to feel a little poignant, since it’ll only be our neighbourhood park for another few weeks – we’ve spent hundreds of hours there with the kids over the last year and a half, so we’re pretty attached to the place.  Here are Elijah and William climbing on the green triceratops in the park:

The kids had fun running around and playing with all the sticks and the snow, and the boys enjoyed some time on the swings.  Charlie’s been attempting to learn to whistle, but she’s easily frustrated by her lack of progress, as you can see in this video:

Today is the day that my husband and I sign our mortgage papers for the new house, although we don’t take possession until Friday.  I’m somewhat anxious about this process: I just want everything to go smoothly!  Today, I’m also back at work after my lovely 2-week Spring Break… then on Friday, I’m bringing Elijah to the Ear, Nose & Throat doctor for an assessment.  No wonder I’m feeling a little stressed out this morning!

St. Patrick’s Day

Check out the St. Patrick’s Day hat Charlie made at school:

She’s a leprechaun! With an orange beard!  Isn’t that crazy?  She wore it home on the bus, of course.  

All of these minor holidays that barely used to register in our lives are now HUGE.  Charlie was super excited to wear green to school, and insisted on picking out her clothes the night before (including green underwear, which made me nervous – I made her promise that no-one was going to see those!).   She also announced at breakfast on St. Patrick’s day that she needed to bring a green snack to school… oh, and there had to be enough for the whole class.   I ended up slicing up a cucumber and sending that – not very exciting, but at least it was green!   We had explained to her that our last name is Irish (her paternal great-grandfather came from Ireland), so she was proudly announcing that to people all day long.

The boys are celebrating St. Patrick’s Day all week at daycare – they’re having a party tomorrow, so I have to send treats for that too (although the food doesn’t have to be green this time – phew!).  It felt very strange dressing both boys in green for St. Paddy’s Day – normally, we do our best to dress them in contrasting colours (still blue for Will and red for Elijah), so they looked extra identical on Tuesday.  It’s a good thing their daycare teachers can tell them apart, since their classmates (and their sister) still have no idea who’s who.  Last week, a teacher from another room at the daycare asked me helplessly which boy was which; apparently Elijah was answering to both his name and his brother’s, and William wasn’t answering to either!

The Ides of March

I love that March is halfway over; we’re getting closer and closer to being homeowners on March 27th, and the weather this weekend was positively spring-like.  I’m also half-way through my Spring Break, which is a little sad – when I don’t have to go to work, I have so much time to get things done!

Our boys still aren’t speaking in sentences, but they’re becoming helpful little members of the household.  William likes to make sure everyone at the dinner table has a napkin, and Elijah is fabulous about putting laundry in the hamper.  Both boys happily bring dirty dishes into the kitchen, collect sippy cups from around the apartment, dash to the bathroom to wash their hands before meals, and mop up spills (which we have frequently, now that they use proper cups to drink from during meals).  

Yesterday, when we got home with a week’s worth of groceries, the boys volunteered to help their daddy put away the food.  He said afterwards that he had to work super fast to keep up with their enthusiastic help:

 Here they are in a close-up, carefully working together to pick up a carton of ice cream:

In the above photo, you may notice that Eli (in the blue-and-red stripes) actually has a CELL PHONE stuck in his hip pocket; his dad decided to let the kids play with his old, disconnected cell phone, and Elijah immediately commandeered it.  He carried it around all day, pausing frequently to play with the buttons and pretend to talk on the phone.  Quite adorable, really.

Today, the sun shone again (hooray!) so we headed out to the NDG park for some fresh air and exercise.  The snow is melting fast, resulting in muddy puddles of ice water under all the playground equipment, so DH and I spent most of our energy keeping Will and Eli out of the dirty, freezing water (which was, of course, the main attraction at the park. Who wants to play on the slide when there are puddles to jump into?).  Exhibit A (this would be Eli):

William playing on an ancient, rusty metal horse-spring-toy-thing (he climbed on without any assistance, so he’s very pleased with himself):

Here’s William cheering on his brother as Elijah climbs up a chain-link ladder (really, it’s amazing how agile these boys are in their boots and snowsuits):

Charlie spent most of the park visit creating elaborate dams and tunnels for the melt-water running towards the playground equipment.  Here she is, directing her assistant (a little boy who meekly followed her commands, when he wasn’t throwing snow in her face and making her cry):

Here she is up close, desperate to taste her bucket of snow (you’ll be reassured to know that she didn’t actually eat any; snow scooped off the ground of a park in March is really not all that pristine):

 

Tomorrow, everyone’s back at school and daycare… well, probably.  Elijah’s got a bumpy red rash on one hand (eczema?) and a slightly goopy eye (hopefully NOT pinkeye), so there’s a good chance we’ll be back at the clinic for yet another check-up.  Sigh. I’ll keep you posted.

EDITED 8:00am Mon, March 16th TO ADD: Whew, looks like we dodged a bullet here; after a good night’s sleep, Elijah’s eye looks perfect, although he’s developed a cold (which is probably why his eye was weepy yesterday).  Now we just have to hope that he doesn’t develop any new ear infections with this new virus… Ah, the joys of raising young children.

In the conservatory

Living next to Westmount has some advantages.  For those who don’t know, Westmount, Quebec is a little independent “city” in the middle of Montreal.  Its residents are among the wealthiest in the country, which means that Westmount’s public spaces are beautifully designed and lovely places to visit.  We live in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (NDG), the borough next-door to Westmount, but our current apartment is a short walk from the Westmount Public Library and the Westmount Conservatory, which is made up of several greenhouses built in 1926.   Here’s how it looks when you’re entering the greenhouse via the library:

 

I didn't take this picture, but isn't it beautiful?

On a day like today, when it’s sunny but freezing cold, the Conservatory is a bright oasis of green.  The main room has a little waterfall (which you see above) and a pool filled with fish, aquatic plants and a bashful turtle.  Here he is, despite his efforts to evade the camera:

The greenhouses are filled with exotic, colourful plants from all over the world.   There are always people wandering or sitting on benches, families with toddlers watching the fish, tourists taking pictures, older couples enjoying a rest, young couples holding hands.  I love this place – it’s simultaneously relaxing and invigorating to breathe in the Conservatory’s warm and fragrant air.  Here are some of the fish in the main pool:

One of the only things I will really miss when we move is the easy access to Westmount’s parks, library and greenhouses.  I know I can still visit, but they won’t be a 10-minute walk down the street anymore!  I was at the library this morning working on my writing, but really, it’s a better place for relaxing, browsing and people-watching than for focussed creative work.  Ah well, it was still a nice outing.

I’m definitely enjoying my March Break, as you can see! On Wednesday, my husband and I spent a few hours together at the Montreal Museum of Fine Art, which was also a wonderful excursion – next week, we’re planning on visiting Old Montreal as another little “date”.  I’m actually feeling a little guilty enjoying myself so much, even though the kids are all healthy, happy and busy at school and daycare – I’m just not used to so much time for myself!

Spring is around the corner…

It’s been a good week.  The snow is almost gone, the temperature is rising, and we’re all excited about Spring being on its way.  Winter is fine and dandy when you can get out and enjoy the snow and ice, but with toddlers, it’s mostly just one big hassle.  I choose to ignore the snow that’s currently falling on Montreal, and I’m focussing on the future: Come on, warmer weather!

 Elijah seems to be totally recovered from his ear problems, although he had to spend a day and a half at home this week when his daycare got freaked out by his ear discharge; they sent him home last Monday, insisting that he see a doctor and get confirmation that he wasn’t spreading anything horrible around the daycare.  The doctor who saw him said that his ears are healing beautifully, and she couldn’t even see a hole in his left eardrum anymore.  Here’s a video my DH took of Eli and Charlie, “playing” Uno, on Tuesday:

Charlie had a great March Break at the Y; they went to the Montreal Museum of Fine Art, had a “Sugar Shack” celebration, swam, played games, made brownies & popcorn and generally had a wonderful time.  We love our local Y!  It’s actually a little sad that we’ll be switching to a different YMCA when we move next month, since we’ve become really attached to the people who run the childcare & swimming programs at ours.  

 Charlie and I just finished reading Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach at bedtime last night, which she loved – next up, The BFG.  I adore reading longer books with her – she’s a great listener who asks lots of questions and speculates about the plot and characters, and I love revisiting my childhood favorites with her.  I always knew I would like this stage of parenthood!  I wonder when she’ll be old enough for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe?

 Here’s a video of the 3 kids hanging out in the living room yesterday morning; note the bright sunshine!  Yay for Spring!

Elijah and William continue to lead each other into trouble & temptation.  Here, Elijah had slipped/climbed and gotten stuck between the side of our ugly old couch and the bookshelf, so naturally his brother had to join him. Not smart, boys:

Eli and Will can now say “Thank you” and “Sorry”, often spontaneously.  This has led to the exasperating situation of one child helping or hurting his brother, and when prompted to express gratitude or remorse, the WRONG twin ends up saying it!  It’s somewhat pathetic for William to push Elijah, be scolded, then have Elijah pitifully say “Sorry” to his persecutor!  

Elijah has also developed the habit of waving “bye bye” whenever he’s about to do something naughty.  He seems to believe that this gesture will actually take our attention away from him, so he can get into mischief.  He’ll even do this when he’s sitting two feet away from us, say at the dinner table, then act affronted when we still won’t let him dip his food into his drink, scoop up pudding with his fingers, feed the dog, or carry out whatever foolish plan he’s got in mind.

 I’ve just started my March Break (woohoo!), so now I’ve got two weeks to get some packing done, plus work on some writing.  I’m planning to attend a week-long workshop for writers in Toronto this July, so I need to prepare a maximum of 15 pages of my fiction to submit ahead of time.  I’ve got several chapters completed (as a first draft), but some of my ideas have evolved since I started working on this project, so I have so major revising to do as I type up my work.

The park in winter

This weekend, we bundled up the family and hit the park.  We’ve been fairly wimpy about getting outside for the past few months, since the weather has been so severe (really, it’s not much fun playing in the snow when it’s -20 or below), but now that the days are getting longer and we’re seeing more sunshine, we’re breaking out of our cocoon and braving the elements.  Here we are at the Secret Park, where the snow had finally melted enough to allow the gate to swing open and admit us again:

The kids enjoyed the time outside; we played frisbee with Charlie, William discovered footprints, and we all relished the novelty of using playground equipment that was buried beneath two feet of ice and snow.  Charlie was fascinated by the icicles under the play structure:

William had fun on the teeter-totter, despite the cold and snow:

Elijah liked climbing up, under and around the icy playground equipment.  Here he is, waving hello:

Poor Elijah’s ear infection went from bad to worse; after 10 days of antibiotics and the ‘all-clear’ at a doctor’s check-up on Monday, he ruptured BOTH eardrums on Thursday and Friday.  He’s now taking some heavy-duty antibiotics to clear things up, and we’ve got an appointment next month at the Ear, Nose & Throat clinic at the Children’s Hospital to see if he might benefit from tubes in his ears to help prevent infections.  My dad requested that we post pictures of the thick nastiness dripping from Eli’s ears, but I decided to spare you the visual.  Anyway, Elijah seems happy enough and is sleeping better, so we don’t think he’s suffering at all.

I had an appointment with my doctor as well, to follow up on my ongoing abdominal pains, and although he doesn’t have a diagnosis for me, he told me to stop worrying, since there doesn’t seem to be anything going on that’s jeopardizing my health.  Apparently I may have a touch of endometriosis or some adhesions from my c-section with Charlie, but nothing dangerous.  Phew!  It’s still unnerving to have pain with no definitive explanation, but I’m relieved to have ruled out anything scary.  I’m having more blood tests just to follow up, but basically it’s just a question of learning to live with the discomfort.

Charlie’s on March Break this week, so she’ll be at the YMCA everyday except Wednesday.  It’s awkward timing that I don’t have my Spring Break until next week, but she’s happy to attend the Y program, where she gets to swim, play outside, do crafts, etc.  

One last picture of the kids – here’s Charlie reading to Elijah (in blue) and William at bedtime: