Summer Recap

In some ways, it seems like the summer dragged on forever. It was 10 weeks long, after all. In others, it feels like it flew by.

I spent the majority of the summer in the first trimester. I can't complain too much because it seems like I had it easier than most. My main symptom was fatigue. Some days/weeks were worse than others. Jenn was usually left alone to work, read or watch TV at 8pm, while I made my way to bed. On a few nights, she found me cuddled with Quinn in our bed, who was having trouble settling down. (This little habit created a monster. She asks to sleep in bed with me on most nights now.) I did have some mild nausea, but it would usually come in waves and go away once I ate something. Apart from some very mild spotting twice, the first trimester was uneventful. It ended with an NT scan that went well -- baby had the lowest nuchal fold measurement that he/she could get, and my blood work was great. After that, we told the girls! Not surprisingly, they were over the moon. Their initial reaction was anti-climatic. I started by telling them that we had big news. They were going to be big sisters. I was met with blank stares, so I asked, "Do you know what that means?" They both shook their heads no. Then I told them that Mommy has a baby in her tummy. The baby will be their little brother or sister. Since then, they talk about the baby frequently. Teagan often gives the baby kisses and tells baby how much she loves him/her. There have been lots of questions, but the winner so far came from Quinn. "Sooooo Mommy, if the baby comes out of your bee-gina, will you pee on him (she always calls baby a boy)?" Good question, Quinn. I kept it together somehow and honestly told her that 'no, I wouldn't pee on the baby.' "Oh that's a good thing, Mommy!" She said, relieved.

The girls' summer started with half-day camps. They went to a camp that I attended as a child. They got picked up in the morning by the bus and I would pick them up just after lunch. To say that they loved this camp would be an understatement. I wrote an email to the director after their three weeks finished to tell him how wonderful I thought the camp and staff had been. From the bus counsellors to the activities to the swimming lessons to their insane level of organization, this camp was incredible. They can't wait to go back.

After that, they went back to animal camp. I've already talked (raved) about the previous camp and animal camp here.

And finally, they attended a music camp and a camp at their preschool.

All of these half-day camps were my saving grace given the fatigue of the first trimester. It was a nice mix between a structured program and then free afternoons to nap, go to the park, splash pad or get together with friends.

Sadly, I don't have camp pictures. Most are pretty strict about that sort of thing. Luckily, I do have lots of pics from the rest of our summer fun!

We celebrated part of Canada Day by listening to my friend's choir perform in front of a packed crowd downtown!

The girls spent ages arranging and rearranging the tiny furniture outside the fairy house in one Toronto park. Someone built a tiny door for the house! 

We visited many different parks:

Including the awesome Treehouse Village -- one of the coolest and most unique playgrounds that I've ever been to. Several treehouses are connected by ropes, tunnels and slides. The kids had a blast and eventually told me to stay on the ground because they wanted to go alone!

We spent time in the backyard filling the water table with various things for some sensory fun. And coloured under the shade of the backyard trees. 

The fur children spent as much time in the water as they possibly could….

Toronto had PanAm fever. I didn't get my act together to buy tickets (read: didn't even think about it ahead of time like all Torontonians). Lucky for me, a friend thought about it and invited me to see the gymnastics. 

Summer didn't mean letting go of our beauty regimen…

We went raspberry picking with friends and enjoyed time in the playground afterwards. 

And like all good Canadians, skating and hockey weren't forgotten despite the 30 degree Celsius weather. 

Friends visited from out of town to play and read stories. 

 We visited the new Children's Discovery Centre with Allison. The centre has 10 interactive discovery zones for the kids to explore.

All four kids loved various aspects of the
art space.

Dress up time!

The vet room was popular with Teagan

Big girls who are always willing to help!

Burning off some energy!

The girls rode horses and played with farm dogs. After some particularly aggressive behaviour, we asked Teagan to sit on the grass for a time out. It's hardly a time-out when a friend comes over to play :)

Sibling love. Finn loves to be near them.

In mid-August, we spent a couple weeks up north with my parents. The cottage was heaven on earth for the three dogs, who got to roam freely and swim whenever they pleased. 

                                      

On one particularly rainy day, I created an obstacle course for the girls. As always, it was taken one step further by adding a leap from one couch to another.

Happy dogs!

The water trampoline was a huge hit. They would climb up the ladder and go down the slide. Quinn started doing it on her own. Being so small, she would fly down it at times. Teagan preferred that one of us catch her at the bottom.

For days, Teagan begged to roast marshmallows. Grandpa worked hard to get a small fire going despite all the rain that we had.

While Michael and Paige were visiting one weekend, we discovered a dog festival going on. There was a jumping competition that Michael and I felt was right up Finn's alley. He made our family very proud!

We ended the summer with two weeks to hang out and get ready for school. We took the girls to Great W0lf Lodge for a night. It's a hotel that contains a large indoor water park. I don't have any pictures from the water park unfortunately, because we didn't dare bring our phones in there. I surprised them and booked a room with their very own "cabin." The kids' sleeping space is sectioned off by a wall and looks like a log cabin. 

And like that our summer came to an end! School is now in full swing. If you've read my previous posts, you likely saw that Teagan, in particular, was having a tough time at school. The last two days have been quite smooth. She seems happier to go to school and is talking about it more positively. More school updates to come!

Week 1 of JK is in the books!

We laughed. We cried. Week one is done.

I definitely didn't anticipate that this level of emotional and mental exhaustion would be associated with the first week of JK. Sure, I knew that it would be hard and there would likely be tears, but I didn't expect it to be this tough. But, we all made it through!

Day 1 of JK

A rainy walk to school

On Tuesday morning, Teagan and Quinn's first day, we arrived at the school to find some ordered chaos outside (and inside) their classroom. Parents and kids were lined up to say hello to the teacher and get the run down. It was an unusually and muggy hot day, so the school was a sauna. Poor Jenn was dripping sweat while she waited in her suit. After saying hello to the girls' teacher and ECE (early childhood educator), they reluctantly walked into the room on their room. They found their name tag that had been laid out and started decorating it with markers and stickers. I give them credit. They were very brave and likely a bit shocked. When I picked them up for lunch, they were happy and full of stories. There were a few kids from their preschool who are in their class, so the familiar faces were nice for them to see.

Not surprisingly (to me), Wednesday morning was tough. They knew what to expect. Teagan lost it and clung to me. She begged for me to take her home. She asked me if it was the last day of school. That broke my heart. Little did/does she know that this is only the start of many years of schooling. The kid is quite articulate and in touch with her feelings, making it that much harder on both of us. When I left her, she was in hysterics. While I would have wanted nothing more than to scoop her up and take her home, I wouldn't have been doing her any favours. I left her in the hands of her teacher. Fortunately, after a little walk with the teacher, she was able to calm down and finished the day well. I walked home in the rain crying that morning. By the time I picked them up at the end of the day, Teagan was smiling. They had done some painting. They sang songs and played outside. They talked about making new friends. They told me about some of the classroom rules. "If you play with something, you clean it up before moving on to something else." Great rule. If I only I could make it work at home as well as it works at school. They stayed for lunch. I was very proud to open their lunch boxes to see that they ate every bit of the lunch I packed! (Rotisserie chicken, tzatziki, caprese salad, carrots, cucumbers and grapes)

Thursday was similar to Wednesday without the drop off drama, which was MUCH easier on this Mommy. It was a gorgeous day, so they got lots of outdoor time. They got to visit the library for the first time and learned how to take a book out. They each came home with a book, to be returned the following day. They had stories of playing with new and old friends. Each day has one period of quiet time. The kids can decide whether they would like to have a rest/nap or read books. Both girls said that they read books.

And today, Friday. Drop off went smoothly. After two days of eating lunch at school, I brought them home today. It was nice to have lunch together and hear about their morning. We played for a little while after lunch. I guess I hadn't made it clear that they go back to school after lunch. Teagan told me that she wants me to pick her up for lunch everyday. They reluctantly got their shoes on to return to school (a 5 minute walk). We approached the kindergarten playground and they happily talked about the friends they would play with. After a kiss and a hug, they walked in smiling. I walked around the corner to make sure that they went to tell their teacher that they had arrived. They put their heads up and saw me. Quinn started sobbing and ran to the fence. I managed to get her to stop crying, only to have Teagan run over sobbing moments later. Once again, she begged me to take her home. She begged for me to lift her over the fence. She promised that she would go back to school after a kiss and hug. We met at the gate. She stayed true to her word and took the hand of the ECE after our hug. The tears started streaming down her face again. It never gets easy to walk away from them like that.

It's a long day for a 4-year old. The kids notice it. It is definitely going to take some time for us all to adjust. They are tired and moody by the end of the day. Teagan usually chats on the way home. I'm having some challenges with Quinn, who immediately becomes rude and mean to me upon leaving the school. I'm usually met with some grabbing (of my hand or shirt) and some yelling, "I'm hungry!" or "I'm tired!" While I understand that it's been a long and overwhelming day, I'm trying to help her understand that she can't treat me as her punching bag. Hey, I get it. You take things out on those you're closest with, but it is a tough one to rationalize after it goes on for three hours straight. I'm cutting her lots of slack, but trying to set some clear rules. I usually pick her up for some hugs and cuddles, because it seems like that's what she needs, in addition to a good snack.

It isn't even 7pm and they both just fell asleep. School has affected their sleep as well. Teagan has been having nightmares. Quinn was up for nearly 2 1/2 hours at 12am last night, struggling to settle. I've been impressed by my patience this week (usually not my strong suit).  My babies are growing up and whether we're ready or not, they're moving onto a new chapter of their lives.

Teagan was shocked to learn that they will be returning to kindergarten on Monday…Can I fast forward to a month from now when it supposedly gets easier?

And just like that...

And just like that, they grow up. I remember being in the grocery store with my 8-week old twins, when someone said, "Enjoy it. Before you know it, they'll be off to school."

How has that day arrived already? The girls are starting junior kindergarten (JK) tomorrow morning. There are so many milestones in the life of a child. This one feels significant for me too (no doubt others will as well).

We spent a while this morning looking through old photos and videos. It wasn't planned, but ended up being a lot of fun for us all. We watched an 1-year old old Quinn take wobbly steps while Finn walked close by. We watched an 8-month old Teagan blow raspberries over and over again while I tried to feed her, eventually smiling because she knew exactly what she was doing. We watched a babbling conversation go on between an infant T&Q. We smiled and laughed until we cried.

I keep saying that I know JK will be good for the girls. It will. Once they adjust, they'll love it and thrive. As my friend just texted me about tomorrow morning, "I just want it over with." The anticipation is the hardest part. This doesn't make it easier to imagine the little babies from those videos having to deal with big kid problems.

The kids fell asleep early and this Mommy needs a good sleep as well. Stay tuned for an update on day #1 (and a regular return to blogging).