Nicolas and Zachary with their Tonka Trucks

GG (one of Steve's grandmothers) bought the boys each a Tonka riding truck. It is so cute and should provide them with hours of fun. It is not only a ride toy but also a push toy that picks up blocks that is in its path on the floor. It is going to be so much fun to watch them grow with this toy!

Zachary:


Nicolas:

Christmas

Christmas is over and thankfully the holidays went very well. The boys travelled much better than we expected and did reasonably well in the sleep department considering they were so out of routine and not at home.

All of the grandparents were very reasonable in the gift department. We want to make sure that the boys learn the true meaning of the holidays and that it is not only about receiving presents. They got some great toys, some awesome books and some cute clothes. Here is a picture of Zachary and Nicolas opening their gift from Aunt Kiki (my sister).

This is just a cute picture of the boys playing at Nana and Papa's house (my parents - our first stop)...


The only down side so far is that Zachary seems to have caught a cold. He has a very runny nose and gets all stuffed up at night. So, needless to say, he has not been sleeping very well.

Santa

Finally, with only a few hours to spare we made it to see Santa for the very first time. The boys were nearing their nap time and I was fearful that they would cry simply because they were too tired. But when we got to the mall there was no one waiting to see Santa. We literally walked right up, snapped a few pictures and left. The boys were great and did not shed a single tear. I guess that will come next year!

Nicolas is in the red and Zachary is in the green...

Sleeping...

Well, it seems that we are making some substantial progress in the sleep department. I have the boys down to one feed per night and usually it is not really night time anymore when they are up for their feed - usually around 4:00-5:00am. That is much too early for me to start my day so I feed them and put them back down and they generally sleep until 7:00-7:30.

Letting them cry it out (as much as it almost killed me to do it) seemed to really be what they needed. I also think that the extra protein they are getting during mealtime seems to be helping as well. The last two or three nights have had very little crying and a lot of sleeping! Last night was our best night.

They were both in bed by 8:45 and Zachary woke briefly looking for his pacifier at 1:00 and once he had it, he did not wake up for a feed until 5:00. He then slept until I purposely caused a lot of noise in getting Nicolas up at 7:30.

Nicolas did not wake up at all until almost 3:30. I then fed him and put him back down. He was awake and ready to start his day at 7:00. He played happily in his crib until 7:30 when I went in to get him.

Hopefully the trend continues and we can go from 8:30 pm until 7:00 am without any waking up at all. I am very optimistic since every night has been getting better and better...

Raspberries

Today, I had the boys try my favorite fruit mixture when I was little. Actually, having tasted a little while I was feeding it to them, it is still my favorite. It was apples and raspberries and they love it!! It was all gone in seconds and it wasn't because I was sneaking some for myself!

Here are the pictures from this new fruit experience...

Zachary:

Nicolas:

Chicken

The boys tried some chicken today. It went over better than the beef, but they still didn't seem too crazy about it. However, mixing it with some sweet potatoes seems to do just fine.

Zachary:

Nicolas:

Can't you tell how unimpressed both of them are? Especially Nicolas....

How cute are they?

I love to sit and watch the boys interact with one another. It is really precious. With every passing day, they seem to interact more and want to be close to one another. They love sitting on the couch next to one another. Generally, they just end up swapping pacifiers. But, a lot of the time it is usually while they are sitting there that the cutest things happen...

Pay close attention to behind Nicolas' back. That is Zachary's hand, he has his arm around his little brother!

Nicolas is trying to eat his brother again! But it makes for the cutest cuddly pictures of the two of them together...

(Zachary is in the red and white and Nicolas is in the grey and blue...)