First hair cut...

Zachary and Nicolas had their first hair cut today. Their Aunt Kiki, a former hair dresser, had the honor of the first snips. They were much happier about the ordeal than the pictures show. They were somewhat squirmy but it was a success...

Zachary:


Nicolas:

Standing up

I stood the boys up in their cribs this afternoon just after they woke up from their naps. Nicolas still likes to stand on his tip toes and therefore is not very stable. Zachary, however, stands flat footed and loves standing like a big boy. He did not want to leave his crib and was enjoying looking around and chewing on the side of the crib.

Zachary:

Nicolas:

Another snorer...

Well, my littlest man is a snorer. His pediatrician said it was highly likely due to the enlarged adenoids. I have proof that Nicolas does in fact snore just like his father. For some reason, though, it is so much cuter when he snores.

Nicolas 2, Zachary 1

Well, tonight I finally discovered the reason for Zachary's extra cranky behaviour lately. I saw a dent in his bottom gum and when I ran my finger along it, there is a tooth! Finally! At almost 11 months, Zachary cut his first tooth. Once it is visible I will post a picture.

Gone are the days of my gummy smiles...

Hamburgers

After the BBQ we had for some friends on Sunday, we had some leftover burgers and I decided it was time for the boys to try some. I cut them up into pieces and put a little ketchup on them. Surprisingly, both Nicolas and Zachary loved it! Here are some quick pics I snapped of them eating their "burgers"...

Zachary:

Nicolas:

Peek-a-Boo!

This picture is of the boys playing peek-a-boo with Grandma sitting on the couch. They were so happy to have her here.

It makes me very happy to know that they are comfortable and happy to be around all four of their grandparents. They go to them easily and sometimes they prefer them over us. The best thing about how easily they go to them is that we can leave them to go out and not worry about them crying and being unhappy the whole time. It allows their grandparents the chance to have some alone time with them and we can have some couple time. It`s wonderful....

Just being funny

The boys have been interacting and playing with each other more and more lately. It is so great to see them together and having fun. I truly hope that this bond stays with them forever.

I snapped a video of them together. I think Zachary licking Nicolas' head is actually him trying to give him a kiss like we do all the time. It is so funny and cute. I just love the way they laugh when they are together like this... it is almost constant. Actually those are the sounds I wake up to in the morning. The two of them laughing and talking to one another. It's how they fall asleep and wake up. I am truly a very lucky woman...

Random Cuteness...

The boys playing with some water bottles... they love them!

Nicolas and Zachary just hanging out...

Zachary playing with his musical instrument...


Nicolas crawling around after snack time with a little bit of food still on his face...

Pacifiers

I decided that it might be time to start weaning the boys off of their pacifiers. Not at night just during the day while they are busy doing other things. I found that they were simply suing them because they were there. I have absolutely nothing against pacifiers, obviously. But I decided it was worth a shot.

I now keep them in their cribs and that's where they stay. This means that they only use them during nap time and at night. So far it has been a success. I bring them with me when we go out, just in case. But I don't give it to them automatically anymore.

The best thing about this is that now when they are playing and I want to snap some pictures, I can do so without having pacifiers masking their cute faces and smiles!

Arrowroot Cookies...

The boys tried Arrowroot cookies yesterday and loved them! So, while I was out grocery shopping today, I picked some up. The only dangerous thing about having them in the house now is that Steve and I arelikely to start eating them! I snapped some pictures of Zachary and Nicolas having their Arrowroot snack before their nap...

Zachary:

Nicolas:

Fish face

Zachary and Nicolas have been making fish faces for the last couple of weeks because they think it's funny... It is actually hilarious to watch them make this face at one another. Especially because it usually results in giggles.

I finally got a picture of Zachary making this face (easier said than done - trust me!)...

The Saga Continues...

Well, Nicolas' fever stayed non existent all day yesterday. So, I thought that finally things were looking up. At 3:30 pm, I gave him another dose of the antibiotic before I put him down for a nap. After he took the dose all I had left to do before his nap was change his bum. When I did, I discovered a rash all over his chest and stomach. GREAT! Here is a picture of the rash in question:

So once I got him to bed I called Info Santé (a phone line service that has nurses available 24/7 to give advice or answer questions). I explained to the nurse what I had seen and what's been happening and she agreed that it sounded like an allergic reaction to the meds. So, I had to take Nicolas back in to see his pediatrician and discontinue the use of the meds. I made an appointment for 8:10 pm to see a pediatrician that works at the clinic where I take the boys.

We showed up 30 minutes before our appointment time and was only seen by the doctor at 9:10 pm! That is over an hour after our appointment time! At this point the boys were exhausted and it was long passed their bedtime. The doctor took a look at the rash and after much debate, agreed that it looked like a rash caused by an allergy. The outcome is that Nicolas MAY have an allergy to penicillin. But they will not know for sure until they can do an allergy test. YAY!

I asked him to check his ears to see how the infection looked. In one ear he saw nothing and the other ear he said that he couldn't tell because there was too much wax! WHAT??? Did he offer to clean it out to get a better look? NO! He just said that he thinks we should discontinue all the meds and see.... So, basically here I sit not knowing if Nicolas still has an ear infection and wondering if it will come back in a few days and we will have to start this process all over again.

I was too tired to argue with the doctor and I just wanted to get the boys home to bed. Let me tell you that the next time I see Dr. Katz (the boys' pediatrician) I will let him know what I think of that other doctor.

Update

After a very difficult and worrisome day yesterday we seem to be having a better day today. Nicolas' fever climbed to 104.3 degrees at dinner time yesterday and I was really starting to be concerned. We gave him some Tempra and lots of love. His fever slowly dropped and by this morning it was completely gone. He has had 5 doses of the antibiotics (he will 21 in all) and I think it is finally doing the work for his poor little body. I am not 100% confident that we are out of the woods yet since things were looking optimistic yesterday morning as well. I guess only time will tell.

The only good thing is that things seem to be returning to normal. The following video is what was going on while I was getting their breakfast ready. About a minute before the video was taken all I could hear were giggles. I had no idea what was causing the laughter but by the time I got the camera and shot this video the laughter had died down and the reasons were becoming more known. Apparently screaming and fake coughs make my little men laugh.... how weird is that?

Update on Nicolas... and Zachary

Well, his fever spiked and I went to have his prescription for the antibiotics filled. Since they need to be taken every 8 hours, I was only able to conveniently give him the first dose around midnight. After his second dose, which came at around 8:00am, he seemed to be doing much better. His fever was down to just over 99 degrees. The morning was pretty typical. The boys were playing happily and went down easily for their morning nap.

The boys had lunch after their morning nap and that's when it started to go downhill again. Nicolas started to act up towards the end of he meal and all it took was to touch him to know that his fever spiked again. I took it shortly after we finished lunch and it was 103.4 degrees. The poor little guy is struggling with this ear infection. I hope that the antibiotics start to kick in and do their job soon. I just hate seeing him so miserable.

The only cute thing that came out of all this is the way Zachary has been acting towards Nicolas. He is truly concerned (which almost makes me more concerned) and is being so kind and gentle with him. They were having a snack this afternoon and Nicolas was not interested at all. So Zachary offered him his cookie. He actually leaned over and tried putting it in his mouth!

I had both of my little men on my lap this afternoon and Zachary kept licking Nicolas' head (I think it was meant to be a kiss) and stroking it. He was obviously try to comfort him. It was so sweet...

Zachary is doing well. Thankfully no fever to report. He is getting a little bit jealous of the attention I am giving Nicolas. But as long as he gets picked up every now and then, he's fine.

Here are some pictures from today:

This one is of Zachary playing peek-a-book with Nicolas and I through his crib. This was taken just after his morning nap.

Nicolas is also playing peek-a-boo with Mommy. This was prior to the crash...

Zachary is obviously feeling better. Here he is happily playing with his toys...


Nicolas after lunch. He was feeling so badly that he just stopped playing and put his head down. He stayed like this until I picked him up...

Fever...

Well, my littlest man has had a fever for two days now. I took him to see his pediatrician this morning (we were out of the clinic in a little over 30 minutes!!). I know that I went a little prematurely (it had not been three days of fever) but since he was pulling at his ears for most of the night while crying, I figured why wait.

According to Dr. Katz there is a little fluid in his left ear. He gave me a prescription for antibiotics (for an ear infection) and told me to wait until his fever hits 103F before I have it filled. Nicolas' fever today has been hovering just under 103. So, here I sit waiting. Thankfully he is still eating, drinking and sleeping. It's just that when he is awake you can tell that he's miserable. And he is so hot! I feel so sorry for the little guy.

Zachary is fine. I have been checking his temperature as well since one of his ears was "a little pink" when we saw Dr. Katz last week. He gave me the same recommendation of waiting until his fever spikes before getting the antibiotics. I think Zachary is in need of a bit of attention since most of my energy is geared towards trying to keep Nicolas comfortable. Once Daddy gets home he can have all sorts of attention from either one of us. I bet he'll chill out with Daddy and watch the hickey game until bed time...

Crawling...

My boys are on the move. I took a few videos of them crawling last night and I thought I would share...

Zachary:

Nicolas:

They love books!

I started reading to the boys at a very young age. They loved to listen to us read the stories and they even like looking at the pages. Well, it seems like our hard work has payed off. They love books and will spend lots of time playing with them and flipping the pages. They even "read" the books to themselves or to each other. It is so adorable! We have had to put some books away because they were constantly fighting over who got to play with them.

Here are some pictures of Zachary and Nicolas with their books...

10 months old!

Wow! I cannot believe that my little angels turned 10 months old yesterday! Only two short months before their first birthday!!

Other than their cold, the boys are doing great. They seem to be less congested and are sleeping better at night. We ave an appointment on Thursday with their pediatrician for a check-up. We were unable to go for their 9 month check-up so we are doing a 10 month one instead.

Here are the 10 month pictures of the boys and their stats:

Zachary:

Now weighs 21 pounds 14 ounces (he weighed 21 pounds on February 3rd, 2009)

Nicolas:

Now weighs 19 pounds 8 ounces (he weighed 19 pounds on February 3rd, 2009)



I am also including two other cute pictures of the boys that I took this morning...

Sick boys

Nicolas and Zachary both seem to have a slight cold. Their noses are runny when they are awake and they get all stuffed up when they are trying to sleep. So, Steve and I spent most of the night with a baby sleeping on us while we were sitting up to help clear their nasal passages. They are so miserable and are really not sleeping well. I just hope that they get over this cold soon so that we can all go back to getting some sleep!