I've been really trying to learn more about photography over the past few days. Back in August, we bought ourselves a new camera, a Canon Powershot G9. But the one condition Matthew agreed to buy a new camera under was that I learn how to use it. LOL. So I've been learning......... or trying to, anyway. I don't really have a lot of time to sit & read up on it, but more so, I don't have a lot of opportunity to practice. The lighting in our apartment isn't very good, and each time that I am outside, I usually have the girls with me and I have to watch them... so I can take quick shots, but don't have much time to adjust the settings, etc.

But I did spend quite a bit of time reading about Aperture and Shutter Speeds. About 95% made no sense to me at all.... it's SOOO confusing! And this is just a tiny fraction of everything out there. Maybe I'll get myself a book or something (got any recommendations???)

Today the weather was so beautiful (19C) that we went to the park for a couple of hours again. And the girls were both being very good, so I did have some time to practice, and I suppose some of the information I read earlier DID make sense, because I was able to take these shots of Nika:

It took me a long time to get the settings right, but I think they turned out cute. (Don't mind her red cheeks - she has a rash from teething.) I love how it blurs out the background, something that would have taken me HOURS to do in Photoshop. I was also trying to capture some pictures of Natasha running, but it wasn't coming out right. Gotta practice more!

 Hope your Halloween is SPOOKtacular!!

We have no plans for this Halloween, as we never do. We're going to buy a bag of candy incase some kids show up, but we doubt they will as we live in an apartment building. I think Matthew came up with the idea to buy candy just so that he can eat it himself.

ANYWAY.... poor Veronika has no costume... I just couldn't find anything cute for her that was in her size. Everything is awfully bulky, which makes sense if you're going trick-or-treating in the cold weather, but since we are not... well it's just not worth it for me. We'll get her a costume next year.

Natasha has a costume someone gave us.... I think it's pretty cute:

 And some Fall pics from yesterday...

For the past week or so, Veronika has turned into one miserable baby... it's not that she's unhappy or cranky, because she's actually pretty content and cheerful most of them time. It's that her eating/sleeping patters have made a complete 180. After researching it, we're almost completely certain it's all due to teething... those teeth are giving her a really difficult time... they just can't seem to cut through.

Symptoms of teething ( http://www.babycenter.com/0_teething_11243.bc ):

• Drooling (which can lead to a facial rash)
  She's drooling really badly... the front of her shirt is always wet. And she has a HORRIBLE rash all over her cheeks, they're all red and flashed.
  
• Gum swelling and sensitivity
  YES! She hates anything being put in her mouth... unfortunately, that includes the bottle or the spoon, which makes feedings almost impossible.
  
• Irritability or fussiness
  She's not terribly fussy, but she can just sit there and burst into tears, her entire fist in her mouth... poor baby!
  
• Biting behavior
  She bites on anything within reach... she prefers soft toys now, like bath toys or stuffed animals... things she can bite into.
  
• Refusing food
  This is the worst part. She went from having a bottle every 4 hours during the day, to having maybe 2 bottles per day. She just screams, shakes her head side-to-side and won't eat. She's also started refusing her solids (cereal, fruits, veggies) after she completely mastered eating them...
  
• Sleep problems
  A little... she used to sleep from 7:30/8pm until 5:30/6am, but now also wakes up at midnight starving... we find that she eats better at night, but even then she's struggling to finish the entire bottle.

In these pictures from today, you can see the rash on her cheeks. :(

Here's today's (well, Monday's) funny for you:

So on Monday I was taking Natasha to her gymnastics class. We were in the elevator going down; the elevator stopped on one of the lower floors and an elderly lady walked in with 2 small dogs. The dogs looked to be the same breed except one was completely white, the other black and white. Natasha stared at both dogs for a couple of seconds, then pointed at the white dog and said, "doggie!!!" She then looked at the black and white dog, thought for a moment, and goes, "panda!!!"

Veronika slept through the night for the first time last night!

She had her last 7oz bottle at 6:30pm and before I put her down for the night around 7:30pm, I told her (jokingly): "Tonight you're going to be a good girl and sleep until 6:00am, right? No waking up at 2:00am to eat, ok?" LOL. She just kinda stared at me...

Well, surprisingly enough she slept until exactly 6:00am!!! Who knew she'd actually listen?!?!

... We both hope she keeps this up since eventually she'll be sharing a room with her sister. But we'll see!

Veronika has been such a good baby lately! I am a firm believer in establishing schedules for babies and keeping consistency each day, and it's been working very well for her. She's even very close to sleeping through the night. Her schedule is something like this:

Eat - 7:30 AM
Playtime.
Nap #1: 9:00 AM-10:30 AM
Eat - 11:30 AM
Playtime.
Nap #2: 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM
Playtime.
Eat - 3:30 PM
Nap #3 - 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM.
Playtime/Bath.
Eat - 7:30 PM
Bedtime - 8:00 PM.
Eat (at night) - 4/5:00 AM.
Sleep until 7:00 AM.

She eats approx. every 4 hours and naps every 2 hours and it's working great for her.
Best part is - she and Natasha take a nap at the same time!!!

And a Bonus pic - look what we can do!!!

Halloween 2008 is coming up, so of course I had to dress Natasha up and take pictures. We won't be going trick-or-treating so this is for pictures sake only, but nevertheless tons of fun!

This year Natasha is a... LEOPARD! Something like that... She was so fascinated with the makeup I put on her face... she took the little brush and started putting eye-shadow all over her face! (Last year she screamed her lungs out when I tried to paint some whiskers on her cheeks).

And for comparison... Halloween 2007 (black kitten costume).
She was actually sick that day... hence the sore face :(

I am on the lookout for a costume for Veronika too but so far haven't been able to find anything that isn't bulky.

I've been tagged by Bonnie! If you're reading this, YOU could be tagged NEXT!

7 random and/or weird facts about myself:

1. I don't have a middle name.
2. I prefer living in an apartment over a house.
3. I was stung by a bee a long time ago (inside my mouth).
4. I only have one cousin.
5. I like having 2 girls!
6. Cars suck. And they're expensive. Public transit all the way!
7. I can remember people & their full-names from ages ago... but they never remember me!

My 7 people to be tagged:

1. Matthew - Vox Clara
2. Agata - Agzomary
3. Laura - Being Ben's Mom
4. Hope - Taking A Deep Breath
5. Kacey - Kacey Racey
6. Aida - Footprints
7. Maria - Being Mommy

Yesterday Veronika had her 6-month doctor's checkup. According to her Ped - she's doing great! She's gaining weight really well and growing like a weed. She now weighs 16 lbs 3 oz (which is what Natasha weighed at 10 months!), and is around 29 inches long. The Ped told us to continue giving her solids and in a month or so we could introduce meats.

She got 2 vaccines, one in each thigh, and cried her eyes out... poor baby! We go back at 8 months.

... although Veronika is not crazy about solids like Natasha was. Most of the time she cries and won't eat them, she only wants her bottle. So we're trying to encourage her to eat her foods, but she's being very stubborn about it. She doesn't even like cereal very much. Natasha happily finishes her food for her!

Here she is, eating fresh banana in her mesh-feeder - she LOVED it!
Me... not so much! Way too much mess.

That annoying little sister...

... *sigh* poor Natasha.