Trick or Treat!

The boys had so much fun trick or treating this year.  They chose their costumes (Ooh and Aah - the blue and red monkeys from the Disney Channel) and thankfully Mom-I was able to make the costumes for them.  They looked so cute and enjoyed visiting all our neighbors to get candy and chocolate.  If we lingered too long chatting, they made sure we knew it was time to move along to the next house!  They even got in the spirit and usually said trick or treat when the person answered the door.  A thank you and a big smile came when the candy was dropped in their basket.

Here are a few pictures of our amazingly fun night!

Zachary as Ooh:

Nicolas as Aah:

Trick or treating at our first house - Dave and Wendy's:

Walking down the street with Daddy:

Walking up to another house - all on our own this time!

 

 Our pumpkins designs chosen by the boys - Sally and Doc Hudson from the Disney movie Cars:

 Our pumpkins in the dark:

Just give them a box...

The boys discovered an empty box and and so much fun with it.  They love to hide in it and stash all their cars inside.  It's so funny to see.  I guess what they say is true.  Forget the gift, just give them the box it came in...

Nicolas:

Zachary:

The two boys together:

Now it's Nicolas' turn for a big accomplishment!

Tonight before bath the boys both sat on the big potty like we have been doing every night.  And tonight it was Nicolas' turn to pee on the potty!  He was so proud and to see the look of excitement and pride on his face was adorable!  We made a round of phone calls to let everyone know all about it just like we did with Zachary.

The boys are pretty easy to coax to sit on the potty.  Now it's up to me to figure out the best times to put them on to see results.  They have really been trying but our timing has just been off...  Now it's time to train Mommy and we should be well on our way to having them on the potty train!

Zachary's big accoplishment

After his nap this afternoon Zachary decided he wanted to sit in the big potty.  And he peed!  We are very excited with this first step and started making phone calls to tell anyone (who would care) that we knew were at home.  He was also very excited to flush the toilet afterwards.

Nicolas tried to sit for about 15 minutes and nothing.  But at least he's willing to try.  Maybe next time...

Naps

I think my days of having the boys nap in the afternoon are numbered.  Lately they have been taking a while to fall asleep and then have only been sleeping for a little over an hour.  So, I have decided that as of now, I will no longer let them sleep any longer than an hour in hopes of them napping every afternoon but for shorter periods of time.

Wish me luck!  I am so not ready to have them give up their naps entirely!

Contest Entry

Hi everyone!

I entered a photo of Zachary in a contest and would appreciate it if you or anyone you know could vote for it.  All that is required is a valid email address and confirmation that you did vote for the picture.  Here is the link for the contest:

http://www.canadasbestphotos.com/index.cfm?page=viewimage&imageID=1146

It was taken during our trip to the ocean this past summer...

Thanks for your help!  I appreciate it!

The aftermath....

The boys went to bed last night with a little more fussing than usual.  Since there is generally no fussing at all, I was sure we would be in for a rough night.  They finally settled down after about 15 minutes.  Zachary first woke up just after 11:00 which was obviously not a good start since he had only been asleep for 2 hours.  I brought him out to the couch with me and helped him settle down.  The poor kid was so tired and had such a rough day with all the tantrums that I felt sorry for him.  It only took about 5 minutes before I put him back in bed.

Nicolas woke around 1:00 and I tried the same thing with him.  He is so squirmy that after about 5 minutes or so, he asked to be put back in bed.  All was quiet for about 15-20 minutes and then he started to cry again.  By this point I was exhausted and needed to sleep.  So, I went into their room (only to find out Zachary was awake too) and told them to just go to sleep.  I explained that I was very tired and needed to sleep.  I also told them that I was not coming back into their room until morning.  I tucked them both in, gave them each a kiss and walked out the room.  I did not hear a peep out of them until 7:00 this morning.  By 7:30 they were both up.  That's a bit early for them (usually they wake up around 8:00) but completely acceptable given the fact it was their first night without their pacifiers.

Here's to hoping they have a good nap so that they are not over tired tonight and we can have an even more successful night tonight.

Pacifiers

I had been talking to the boys for a while about giving up their pacifiers.  I wanted it to be their decision (within reason) to give them up.  So today (unlike any other day) I asked them if they were ready to put them away for good.  Zachary answered yes almost immediately and handed me his pacifier.  Nicolas then walked over to me and handed me his.  I put them in a box tucked them in for their nap and walked out of the room.

I was hoping the nap would go smoothly but I was so wrong.  It took them forever to fall asleep and they did not sleep very long.  I know this is only temporary and will get better in a few days but I am not sure I will be able to hang on that long.  They both woke up from their "naps" very cranky and have been crying quite a bit.  They are over tired and I hope that it will not mean too many issues with them sleeping tonight.  I guess only time will tell...

Thanksgiving

We had Thanksgiving at Mom-I and Pop-I's house last night.  It was great to see everyone and the kids were awesome.  The boys ate like troopers and loved the meal!  Especially the stuffing... Daddy and Uncle Tom will have some serious competition in future as these boys get older.

I actually had the opportunity to sit and chat with my sister-in-laws which was quite enjoyable.  The boys had a good sleep after all that turkey!

Here are a few pictures of some of the fun we had...

A walk down the street to the park:

A lot of kids climbing up the slide:

Uncle Tom and Katie, Sabrina, Fiona and Philippa colliding on the slide:

Auntie Carolyn and Auntie Nat on the trampoline:

Nicolas and Zachary at the top of the slides:

Alexandra hanging around:

Potty training...

We have started the potty training conversation with the boys.  They have a potty seat for the toilet and we bought them some books for them to read while sitting on the potty.  Yes, I am completely aware that I am training the type of men that need something to read while in the bathroom.  But for right now it's getting them to sit so I'm ok with it.  Since they are so obsessed with the Cars movie, I bought them each a Cars book to serve this purpose.  They are only allowed to read it on the potty.  So, far it's worked.

We have started by sitting them on right before their bath.  Neither has peed in the potty yet, but I am hoping that's going to come soon.

Saturday

Aunt Kiki and Uncle Chavly came over on Saturday to spend the morning with the boys.  What a great time they had!  Not at all surprising but it's still fun to see.  Aunt Kiki cut their hair because they were both in desperate need of a hair cut.  So, here are a few pictures of the boys with their new look:

Here are Aunt Kiki and Uncle Chavly with the boys:

Aunt Kiki is reading the coloring book to the boys... you can really see their hair cuts here:

After their nap we headed over to Mom-I and Pop-I's to see all of their cousins.  It is Fiona's birthday in a few days so Auntie Carolyn made some cupcakes.  It is so cute to see all of the kids together.  I must say that the oldest girls are growing up so fast.  I remember when they were all born and it just seems like yesterday...

Sadly, no good pictures were taken while at Mom-I and Pop-I's.  I was too busy being sociable and forgot to take some...