"Plane-spotting" at Gravelly Point...

October 4, 2009...

What to do on a picture-perfect Sunday morning in D.C.? Why, how about going to watch "those magnificent men in their flying machines"...and live vicariously through the wide-eyed wonder of two 18 month olds and a 5 year old?

To give full credit where credit is due, it was Emer's idea. And what a good idea it was. So often the simplest things are the most fun. Thus we found ourselves taking the short 20 minute drive down to Gravelly Point, right on the Potomac River and just north of National Airport. Here's me walking to our vantage point with Liam and Maeve:

And this is us in position, waiting for the first fly-by:

And.......WHOA (it felt a lot closer than it looks in the photo):

Liam, Ciara, and Maeve posing in front of "the giant pencil"...

This is Maeve taking cover after a particularly close fly-by...

Liam: "Maeve, where'd I put my wallet!?"...

Ciara: "I wish Nana and Grandad were on that plane, coming to visit us..."

Ciara in a tree...

11 months!

I just can't believe how this year is flying. They turned 11 months yesterday and honestly, this last month has been brilliant. They are in great form, we are getting out a lot and more importantly the majority of winter is in the rears! Skip, myself and Ciara are really enjoying their antics and I can now see that all those mothers of mulitples are not crazy when they say that they LOVE having multiples. After a long, tough year, I can finally see the light! They are hilarious together.

11 month update:

Liam is saying "Oh Oh" and it is so cute.
He tells you what a fish says.
He goes straight to the hall closet for his jacket when I tell him we are going for a walk.
He can stand but is still frightened by it.
He has 8 teeth.
His new favourite food is my homemade mac and cheese.

Maeve is crawling just as fast as Liam.
She has 6 teeth.
She donates her mac and cheese to Liam, since it is one thing she does not like!
Her food of the month is mandarin orange segments.
Everything excites her. She gets giddy constantly. She giggles all the time and honestly, it is the sweetest sound.

They now only nurse once a day and have one bottle in the evening, other than that, they are all grown up and using their cups! Onward to real milk and 100% sippys. They both love music. When you put on their favourite songs, they immediately stop what they are doing and begin to clap and "get jiggy". Their favourite songs are "Down by the Bay" by Raffi and the theme tune to Miss Spider's Sunnypatch kids.

Here is their 11 month photo.

A New Year!

It has been a long time since I updated the blog .... too busy during the day and too tired at night to post. This past week, the kids have been unbelievably brilliant so here's to a New Year and hopefully the first of many new posts.

Ciara continues to be terrific with M & L and is in love with both of them. The excitement on her part, as well as theirs, when we pick her up after school is so cute. She has them both in fits of giggles the whole way home and it continues throughout the afternoon. At school, she is learning to read, starting with the colours and wants to go to school 7 days a week, not 5. She will be in Kindergarten next year .... where does the time go?

Liam and Maeve will be turning 10 months old this coming Saturday. I cannot believe we have all survived.

Some points of note ...

Firstly, Liam

• He hit 20 lbs by his 9 month appointment


• He is the proud owner of 5 teeth


• He is standing alone for a few seconds but still favours crawling and cruising


• His favourite things to eat are apple pancakes, black beans and broccolli/cheese nuggets


• He loves to sit and read


• He is a cling-on to his mummy


• He says bababababa and mamamamama

and Maeve

• She was finally outpaced by Liam and was 1 oz shy of 20 lbs at her 9 month appointment


• She is also the proud owner of 5 teeth


• She learned to crawl just before Christmas and is so excited by it


• She can pull up to standing and in the last couple of days has learned to get back down again (phew!)


• Clapping is her latest achievement and again, she is beyond excited about it


• She says babababababa and mamamamama but her favourite word is "brah" or something like thatHer favourite things to eat are anything I give her. Honestly, she eats anything and everything. What a blessing! Long may it continue!

I will finish up since I do not want to over-exert myself!

Some recent pictures ...