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...