Finally. I placed an order from Toys R Us for the girls’ Christmas presents this year from us. It’s been hard because they already have a lot of things, especially Veronika who inherited all of her older sister’s toys and wouldn’t understand what’s going on anyways…. BUT I want Natasha to see her little sister receiving gifts as well. So… Matthew gave me a budget and told me to “go nuts with it” and he doesn’t care what I get, just get it over with. So I did.

For Natasha:

Panda Cub

Thomas & Friends - Railway Rhythms Pop Up Songbook - English Edition

For Veronika:

Musical Inchworm

Activity Board

Teddy Bear Stacker

And for the girls to share:

Interactive Electronic Table

These are all the gifts from Matthew & I, as I am sure they’ll get a ton more stuff from the grandparents and other family.

The girls will not see the toys until Christmas morning when they wake up. The gifts will be hidden and when they go to bed on December 24th, we will place all the wrapped presents under the tree; they will get to unwrap them first thing in the morning. BUT. We’re starting a new tradition this year where each girl will receive a new set of holiday pyjamas and that is the ONLY gift they can open on Christmas Eve. Each girl will go to bed in new jammies (which I already bought)!

Picture of new pyjamas

When they’re a bit older (maybe next year), we will probably do a new set of pyjamas and a new book to take to bed. Also, starting next year, we will take the girls to the store and each will be able to pick out a new ornament for the tree. I want them to have traditions to look forward to each year. I am sure we will have more of them over time, but these are for starters.

Our poor baby has had a rough few days... first her two bottom teeth came out within a day of each other, and now her nose is all runny and leaking. The runny nose started yesterday morning and it's pretty much preventing her from drinking her bottles... since her nose is stuffed, she can't breathe much through it making it impossible to eat. But oddly enough, she's in a pretty good mood although extra clingy and wants lots of attention. She eats a little solid food, though.

Last night she went to bed at her usual 7:30pm and slept until 11pm when she awoke screaming... her nose was stuffed and she was pretty miserable. We tried suctioning it but she was screaming & kicking so hard, it was next to impossible... I thought I'd be up all night with her. But after fussying for 30 minutes she seemed to calm down and I put her back to bed. She fell asleep right away and (again... oddly enough) slept until 6:05am THIS MORNING! Maybe all that screaming did some good for her...she woke up and ate almost an entire bottle!

Natasha is being an AWESOME big sister through this all... she can tell that Veronika has trouble eating (even solids!), so each time Veronika opens her mouth for a spoonful of food, Natasha goes, "EXCELLENT!!!!" which makes the baby smile!

Ugh. I am having some issues with my Windows Live Writer that I use to update this blog - it keeps posting my entries twice and when I delete the duplicate, it deletes both of them. Grr.

ANYHOW.... Yesterday Miss Veronika got her VERY FIRST TOOTH! Yay, finally! She's been teething for SOO long, for at least four months (poor baby!) but finally a little tooth popped through on her bottom gum. It's really sharp. I hope more teeth are to follow. She's still teething, drooling, and not eating too well so I am sure another tooth will pop through any day now.

We are no longer all gums!

EDITED TO ADD - November 24: We have a 2nd bottom tooth! Yay!

It always amazes me the things people say or ask when I am out with the girls in their double stroller.

• Are they twins?
  Yes, they are twins. One just happens to be a lot longer, has 3 times more hair and is speech advanced.
  
• Awww.... what a cute little baby boy at the back there!
  Oh, that's such a cute little baby boy... complete with a pink hat, sparkly earrings, and a bright pink jacket!
  
• Are they both yours???
  No... I kidnapped one.
  
• Are you old enough to have kids?
  [This one I will not even dignify with an answer].

Natasha & Veronika in their double stroller - November 2008
See what I am talking about?

How can someone so LITTLE cause such a BIG mess?

So I was feeding Veronika some veggies this afternoon when she decided to stick her little foot OUT of the highchair and knock the plate right out of my hands. She's never done that before so I wasn't expecting it... the orange squash/sweet potato/carrot mixture went flying right into my eyes, all over my shirt and pants... it was so unexpected that I placed the plate in the CENTRE of the little table next to her (so she won't reach it) and ran to the bathroom to wash my eyes.

But I should've known better. She didn't need to reach the plate... she just needed to PULL the tablecloth to make the plate COME TO HER, and then happily managed to dump the remainder of the food all over herself, the tablecloth, and the floor.

Ugh... this picture doesn't do it any justice! You should've seen the floor.... I know the fault is mine, you'd think after two babies I'd learn!

Today Veronika had her first taste of meats. She's over 7 months now, so I guess it's time to slowly introduce them... I gave her Heinz Chicken Noodle Casserole to try, and.... she hated it! Yuck yuck. She made a horrible expression. Eventually, somewhere on spoonful #3, she warmed up to it a little bit and actually opened her mouth, but by spoonful #7 she decided enough was enough. She wouldn't open her mouth any longer and screamed at the sight of the spoon.

It's a good thing we have a little puppy in this house (aka Natasha) who happily finished the jar for her sister. Natasha is 25 months old but still OBSESSED with baby food. She would eat it all day if I let her. She finishes off all the food Veronika doesn't - cereals, fruits, veggies, etc. Natasha is not a fan of chewing. She likes mashed up stuff and soups.

Oh well... we will give the meat a try again later!

 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. :(

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!!!