But we've been here since late November, and it's nice to finally be able to look out and see a yard, rather than mounds of dirt when it's dry, and mud when it ain't - not to mention the Tim Horton's and Wendy's garbage that the construction workers left strewn everywhere. Actually, somebody left an old pair of painter pants (some actual painter's pants, as opposed to the ones you buy at Old Navy) on our front lawn. In a bit of a hurry to get home, were you, buddy?
Anyway, when Liam and Morgan are outside in the new yard, they're a little hard to corral at this point. It's recommended that one does not add a fence or deck for a year after the sod has been dropped, so that everything's settled. The other issue for us is that the final phase of the development is just behind us, and they're still at the construction stage, ergo a couple of stages away from connecting our future backyard neighbours' (God, please make them nice people) sod to ours.
So, I've trimmed all the background construction, half-built houses and dirt from these two shots to show you how much the twins are enjoying being outside. Yes, each have their own ball. That's a necessity with twins. Of course, the babies also don't recognize the assumed borders of our property, so we're almost constantly chasing them to bring them back to the safety of our space...but it's fun. Maybe I should invest in some bungee cords.
(Click on these first two pictures. They look much better in large format.)As a matter of fact, I'll be off to buy a 'corn-popper' today, due to the fact that we only have one, and it almost always becomes an issue. You'd know what a corn-popper is if you're exposed to kids at all. It's like a little lawnmower that - when you push or pull it by its handle - makes popping sounds, while little coloured balls whirl around under its plastic dome 'engine'. Liam could care less about dolls (so Morgan has full access to the twin dolls her mother bought recently), but he's a huge fan of the 'corn-popper'...to the point of distraction, actually. Problem is, Morgan's always trying to take it from him, and a second corn-popper might alleviate stress levels, both for the twins, and the ones their parents feel when the babies start getting territorial about their toys (terriTOYrial? never mind). When I say Liam's interest in the corn-popper is to the point of distraction, I'm not kidding. He's caused himself some semi-serious injury through his obsession. He'll drag the thing behind him, and turn to watch the little balls bang around under the plastic dome, with NO regard for where he's going - and he's TWICE (so much for learning your lesson the first time) banged his head really hard on the stair's railing post...and you immediately know he's hit it really hard, because his reaction isn't instant. He's actually stunned himself on both occasions, and there's a beat of eerie silence about two seconds long before he reacts - rather negatively - to the unpleasant bump on the head he's given himself. It's excruciating as a parent to witness. In one week, the twins will be 20 months old, so it's still a little hard to explain why (instead of celebrating his unbridled enthusiasm) he has to be careful. "Careful playing? What's that all about, Dad?" So, tonight when I get home from work, I will be baby-proofing the offending stair rail posts. I already did this for the bottom 12 inches of the posts many months ago when we moved in, but the twins are walking and running now, and their beautiful little heads now face danger at a different altitude.
Liam did manage to figure out this problem, though:
He somehow got one of their toy watering cans (from their Aunt Janette) around his ankle. Lately, both Liam and Morgan are showing an interest in putting just about anything that fits -onto their feet. His expression shows just a touch of his initial panic with the situation.
However, I stayed calm, snapped these pictures, and he settled down. He eventually figured out how to get it back off on his own. (I especially like Morgan's "Huh?" expression in the second picture. Did we wake you, kid? Is the room spinning?)
Back to our day in the backyard, for a couple of reasons. One of the best things that happens to me on any given day is when Morgan and Liam decide they want to sit with me and watch TV. This picture's from the end of our day outside. Morgan likes to curl up beside me to my right, while Liam just likes to climb right on top of me. It is one of the best feelings I've ever had, and the only reason I don't seem to be conveying that in this picture is because I was the only member of the family not smart enough to apply SPF on myself before sitting in the sun. I'd forgotten how painful sunburns can be, since it's been at least a decade since I've had one, and I had to ask Janne to drop into Shopper's and buy me some Solarcaine - which stinks, by the way. I won't be using that stuff again. Got any suggestions for alternative sunburn relief? (and don't say, "Stay out of the sun," or, "Wear SPF." Only my wife gets to talk to me like that.)This picture also reminds me of Ma H.'s comment a while ago about my having found peace. Yes, it's peace, but it's so much more, too. I may have to invent a word...because I don't yet have one in my vocabulary to capture the feeling.
