First Steps for Nicolas

Nicolas has been taking one maybe two steps unassisted lately. We are quite surprised that he is not walking yet considering Zachary now walks everywhere. Nicolas will walk holding (very lightly) on our hands whenever he gets the chance but has not shown much interest in walking on his own. Much to our surprise tonight he took 5-6 steps on his own, without any coaxing from either one of us! We actually almost missed it.

So, I am assuming that it won't be long now and I will have two little boys that want to walk everywhere. And I am completely ok with that.

Telephones

Nana and Papa bought the boys some play phones while they were on vacation. The boys love them!! The phone makes lots of noise and there are flashing lights and buttons to push. So, they are obviously a big hit. Here are a few cute pictures of them with the phones...

Zachary pushing all the buttons:


Nicolas, just relaxing on the couch and talking on the phone:


Zachary answering his phone:


Nicolas on his phone:

Zachary is walking!

Well it has finally happened... Zachary is walking! He will still crawl if he needs to get somewhere quick or if Nicolas is about to beta him to it. But other than that, he is really enjoying the attention he is getting when he walks.

Nicolas took his first steps alone today. It won't be long before he is walking too.

Update and some pictures

Well, baby boot camp has been a success so far. I spent some time explaining to the boys that they were big boys and that they didn't need me in the middle of the night. Well, our first night resulted in no waking whatsoever. I guess my pep talk worked. So, I tried it again yesterday. Zachary woke up twice but the only reason I heard him was because I was already awake (and in pain!). I slept wrong the other night and my neck and shoulder are now killing me (muscle relaxers are now my friend!). The crying lasted less than a minute and he was back out. I am so proud of my big boys!

Here are two pictures of the boys showing off their teeth...

Zachary's two new teeth:


Nicolas' teeth:


Our street is being repaved and the boys are loving all the bog trucks on the street. They love to watch all the action from the front window. They could sit there for hours!

Zachary watching the action outside:


Nicolas posing for the picture:


Here is a video we took this morning. The boys were giving each other kisses. Zachary is so funny because his kisses are actually licks! So, Zachary was licking Nic's nose and they both thought it was pretty funny!

Baby Boot Camp begins.... again!

Well, the boys had been doing so great at night. And then Zach's two front teeth came in and he started waking more and more at night. Well, his teeth are both through and there is no real reason for waking up other than it has now become a habit. So, last night I had enough and I decided that baby boot camp starts tonight... again!

The main reason for this decision is simple. They are more than capable of sleeping through the night and my entering their room to try to comfort them seems to be making it worse. The boys were up for over 2 hours last night and I cannot have many more nights like that. So, I will not go into their room when they wake tonight. I know the crying will go on for a little while, but once they realize I'm not coming, they will fall back to sleep. By tomorrow or Saturday, there will be minimal waking and we will be back on track.

This part is the most difficult on me, but it needs to be done...

Weekend Update...

We decided at the last minute to head down to see Grandma and Grandpa this weekend. It was the boys' first long car ride in the new car seats. We left when they were due for their nap on Saturday afternoon. The ride down was more or less successful. They only slept 30 minutes each which was far too little time. The main problem is that the seats were not reclined back enough and they were very uncomfortable.

Zachary at the beginning of his sleep:


Zachary after I tried to make him more comfortable with his blanket:


Nicolas at the beginning of his sleep:


Nicolas once he really fell asleep:


The boys had a great night at Grandma and Grandpa's. They slept the whole night with very little stirring. Nicolas required help finding his pacifier once at 11:00 but other than that, they slept all night. We went out for breakfast in the morning and the boys were great. We also got to see my grandfather (their Great Papa) and Steve's grandmother (their G.G). We left after their bath and bottle on Sunday night. The boys only fell asleep after it got dark and they transferred very easily when we got home.

Steve had the day off yesterday (to make up for not taking Canada Day off). It was so great to have some quiet family time during the week! We took the boys for a nice walk and a fun trip to the park. Boy, do they love the park! Auntie B and Uncle Steph came over with Natalia for dinner. The boys are so sweet with her. They are quite intrigued and curious about her. It is so cute to see... I will try to get a picture of the three of them to post soon.

Also, we had the craziest rain storm ever yesterday. There was massive amounts of hail! In July!! Here is a picture taken of our deck where you can see the hail and the boys' pool... What is going on with the world???

Sleep issues... and cuteness...

Well, Zachary has been waking up a lot lately due to the new teeth. Last night it was Nicolas' turn. I am not sure what caused the sudden outburst but it got bad. He sounded terrified! So, I went in to let him know that everything was ok only to find Zachary awake as well. They were both hysterical so Steve came in to give me a hand. They finally settled down but decided they didn't want to sleep. So, I left the room.

They went crazy after I left. They were both crying very hard and then we heard a big bang. I jumped out of bed and into their room to find Zachary on the floor. He somehow managed to get over the side of the crib! This is the first time this has ever happened and he has never even come close to trying to get out before. I think he was trying to reach his extra pacifier that had fallen on the floor. Thankfully he was fine. But after that, I got a pillow and blanket and decided to camp out on the floor in their room until they fell asleep. Needless to say it was not a great night.

But thankfully for the boys they are adorable. Here are a few pictures I took of them yesterday...

Here they are watching Daddy arrive home from work:


Zachary and Nicolas playing with their cars in the window sill:

Zachary's new tooth!

One of Zachary's top teeth has finally broken through. The one next to it is on its way out as well. Hopefully it means that he will start sleeping better again. But at least I know for sure that the culprit has been found!

Can you say flexible??

The boys decided to chew on their own toes after breakfast this morning. Maybe I'm not feeding them enough???

Zachary:


Nicolas:


Can you believe that we were probably all that flexible once??

We love to read

The boys love reading and looking through books. They absolutely love to flip the pages which makes it very hard to actually read them a story. When trying to do so, I have to give each other them another book to hold on to, in hopes that they don't try to steal mine!!

While I was making dinner the boys were too quiet, so I went into the other room to see what they were up to. This is what I found...

Big Boy Car Seats!

We finally transitioned the boys from the infant carrier to forward facing car seat. I was hoping to keep them in the rear facing for as long as possible, but they have simply outgrown the infant carriers.

Don't they look like such big boys in their new car seats?


Zachary:


Nicolas:

Fun with Nana and Papa!

Nana and Papa had a great time with the boys. Zachary and Nicolas kept them very busy, but I was told that they all had a blast. The boys were exhausted tonight and went to bed early. I am sure Nana and Papa did the same...

The boys had their first trip to McDonald's for lunch yesterday. They had nuggets and fries and loved it! Here are a few pictures...

The boys:

Nicolas making his scrunchy face:


Zachary getting a better look at the airplanes flying by:


We had a great night away. I never called home and for that I am very proud of myself. I thought of the boys often, but I never worried about them. But I think it's completely normal that I miss them since I spent the last 14 months (and my whole pregnancy) never being separated from them for longer than a few hours. Thankfully, I think they missed us too!

First Night Away...

Well, tomorrow will be our first night away from the boys. We are going up to my best friend's cottage to spend the weekend with them. We are really looking forward to it, but I am also having the Mommy leaving her boys for the first time overnight jitters.

I think I need to clarify why I have the jitters. First of all, it has absolutely nothing to do with leaving them with my parents. The boys adore their Nana and Papa and I am sure they will have a blast! Obviously, I am here... alive and well so I know they can handle it. The other great thing about them is that they are a good team. My Dad loves doing things with the boys (including helping to feed them) so I know my Mom won't have to do all the work. The only thing she will be solely responsible for is the diaper changes. But, now that they are older, there is less of it... granted when there are major diaper changes they are much stinkier!

What I am most worried about is that the boys won't sleep well and they will be really cranky. I just want them to be awesome and fun for my parents, the way they usually are with me. Both of my parents are so looking forward to this and I want it to be a happy and pleasant experience for them. I want them to want to do it again!

I guess I am also wondering what will go through the boys' minds. All of a sudden we are gone and won't be there when they wake up in the morning. This is a first for them as well. But at least they are with their grandparents... two of four people who love them just a little less than Steve and I do...

There is a first for everything and I am sure it will go well. I plan to try not to think about them too much because I know they will be awesome!

Happy Canada Day!

Grandma and Grandpa left today but that means that Daddy also came home today! The boys were so excited to see him. We had the chance to use Skype while he was away and it was wonderful. As soon as Zachary saw Steve on the computer, he pointed and immediately said "Dada". It was awesome!

The boys also got to visit with their Uncle Tom, Aunt Alison and cousins Fiona and Philippa today. It was so cute to watch all the kids playing together. It is going to be so much fun in another year or so. They also got a visit from Paul, Jinny and Timmy. Jinny and Timmy have spent the last 7 weeks in Korea and are finally home. We were so happy to see them... but not as happy as Paul was I am sure.