Oh Oh

Occasionally, a behaviour surfaces that, while hilarious, doesn't bode too well for the years to come. In this scene, our protagonist, Colin, tries to bait Edward with the promise of a minute piece of fish and the words "Da Da". In this case, he doesn't mean Edward. Rather, that's Colin-speak for "Ta Ta", which we use in this house when goods exchange hands.

What happens next is classic Imp (aka Colin)

Snow Babies

It was a bit chilly for major outdoor adventures this morning (-24 including windchill), but the fresh blanket of snow in the backyard proved too tempting, so we bundled everyone up and brought out the new-to-us sled for an inaugural ride. We lasted about 15 minutes - long enough to pull the babies around the backyard a few times and to take some pictures of their first face-to-face introduction to snow!


All of our snow babies






Slipping n sliding in our sled. Colin, in true Monkey fashion, has already wiggled out of his double mitt - he MUST get his hands on some of this white stuff...and that ball!

Christmas Photos

Colin sees the tree...


Keith: I think there's something with my name on it waaay back here!
Evelyn: Um... Keith, get off the presents.


Colin thinks this is a lot of fun!

Christmas Photos, Part Deux

Edward Claus


Colin wearing a gorgeous cowl knit by Grammy (a gift for me!)


Evelyn (PS - this might seem frivolous, but the debate on Evelyn's eye colour has yet to be resolved, and this picture is pretty true to how they look in person... thoughts?!)


The babies and I in the nursery trying out a super cool toy courtesy of Santa, by way of Nana and Opa, on Christmas morning.


Typical Keith: knees dirty from crawling, one slipper and as happy as a clam. Sitting in the wee rocking chair (we now have four rocking chairs in the house... and we use every single one!)

Sometimes...

We have a (good) Bad Hair Day. At least it's funny now... give Evelyn another decade and a half, and a coif like this will elicit an entirely different reaction; either from me if it's intentional, or from her if it's not. Her hair may be baby-fine in comparison to her brothers, whose hair is like fishing line (my contribution), but it can retain the most gravity-defying poses!

"Randy Lay There Like A Slug....

... it was his only defence...." Colin, in his snowsuit, channeling Randy in A Christmas Story.


The babies enjoying the latest of Opa's Value Village finds, a Dora-themed car. Who needs to be good for a whole year to get a few gifts from Santa, when you have an Opa?


Evelyn manages to wriggle/roll/drag herself over to the book shelf while waiting for Daddy to set her free.

We're (In)Famous!

We're picture number 11, and the lead picture for the on-line article:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/holiday/kids-and-the-claus-your-hilarious-santa-photos/article2264861/

Poor Santa

So, after warding off the most recent baby-generated cold, which included two rounds of pinkeye, I managed to come down with strep throat yesterday. While waiting hours to be seen this morning, Edward was at home alone with the babies. In a moment of.... let's call it "bravery".... he decided to bring the babies to see Santa anyways. I had made plans to do the same with my mother this morning, but cancelled.

This was the result:



As expected, Colin would have chatted with Santa for a good long time - they were best chums. But Keith started to howl the moment he came near to Santa, and Evelyn took her cues from him. Of course.

Christmas Photos... This Year and Last Year!

A few weeks ago, when Edward's family was visiting, we took the babies to get their Christmas photos taken at Loblaws. It took me, Edward's mother, Ann, and his aunt Pinie to accomplish this mission, which was a lot like herding cats.

It actually went quite well, all things considered. The photographer was young, energetic, and most importantly, patient. The babies can scatter with alarming speed, so she came up with the idea of putting them in baskets. At one point, the boys were in one basket, and Evelyn in another. Those pictures didn't turn out as well, because the babies do NOT like being confined. Out of close to 60 shots, only three turned out. And one of the three (see below) was only of Keith. It turns out that he likes hamming it up for the camera. The others... well... not so much.

My mother and I are going to try to take them to see Santa at the mall tomorrow morning, so we might have a few more pictures to share. We've passed Santa for weeks, waving hello and checking out his sled in a (potentially vain) attempt to desensitize the babies to the Jolly Old Elf. I can only imagine what might transpire tomorrow, but I suspect it will be very, very loud.


Keith, enjoying his moment in the limelight with a "bow" (Keith-speak for "ball"). There were a myriad of these Christmas ornaments in the studio, and the babies were enthralled by them.


Keith looking resigned, Evelyn looking unsure and Colin looking suspicious. At least they were all looking up, unlike the majority of the photos...

All in all, a totally worthwhile experience!

As a comparison, last year's Christmas photo, which was taken by us at home:


Keith, Colin and Evelyn, at about 2 months