Tooth Tally Update

Aside from walking ALL over today it is looking as through Nicholas and Celia will escape needing false teeth. Celia was so uncomfortable last night. Her other top tooth and another bottom tooth are so close that her gums are swollen and red. Nicholas looks to have finally gotten a top tooth as well. So, unless upon closer inspection tomorrow, the tooth Tally is as follows:
Celia: 4 + 1 more soon (but maybe 3 +2 more soon if that top tooth hasn't totally broken through)
Nicholas: 3

Those top teeth look so big! But my Mom reminded me that they seem big now, but when they fall out when they are 5 or 6 those 'baby teeth' look soooo teeny. :)
Maybe they should have a tooth fairy gift for babies when they GET their baby teeth! Sure seems to hurt a lot more!

How was your day?

These pictures were from a couple days ago. They were fussy for some reason (I think lunch was cooking and it wasn't cooking fast enough). So I grabbed a couple pictures.
Quite the faces right?

Really taking off!

This afternoon Celia just started taking off with her walking. It is weird to look over and just see her walking across the room! So neat! She thinks she is hot stuff too!
Nicholas has been working on being more brave with his walking, but his balance is a little less than Celia's balance. She is shorter and weighs 4 lbs less, so I am sure that plays into it a bit too. But is is so neat to watch them start to really walk across the room! We were cheering and laughing with them watching them walk.

Brushing our Teeth

Its time for real toddler toothbrushes now. We picked up toddler brushes and baby toothpaste at Target. I have a hard time getting in to brush their teeth, but I try and then let them chew on the toothbrush for a while. Its something at least? They love these toothbrushes.
And you know, why are they called 'tooth brushes' when they are brushing teeth. Shouldn't they be 'teethbrushes'?

Tooth Tally:
Celia 3
Nicholas 2

She is walking!

Wow! Look at her go!!!

Mommy the Ball-popper

I know we could've spent the money on those Ball popper toys, but this is pretty fun. lol
Yesterday at my Parent's house Nicholas put a ping-pong ball in my mouth when I was laying on my back and to be silly I popped it into the air. It became a game for Jason and I to see who could pop it all the way to the ceiling. It was silly.
Well, today all of a sudden Celia came up to me with a ping-pong ball (which they are usually always at Grandma and Grandpa's house, so I'm not sure how it got to our house). So I asked Jason to videotape us. :) I know its silly!

Silly in the Crib

A while ago I posted a slideshow of Nicholas and Celia playing around in a crib together. well, they still love to do this. This is a little video of them being silly in Nicholas' crib. He is trying to kiss her over and over and after a while she must be thinking "Enough Kissing Nicholas!". ha ha

Nicholas Getting Tickled

I know I need to pace myself with the videos, so I will wait until this weekend to post the longer video, so this is real short. Nicholas is VERY ticklish. This is him giggling while I was getting his sides after nap. :) He has a great laugh. Celia is not as ticklish, but when we do get her she tries to hold the laughter in. lol

Baby Legs

Thanks to Joanna's (Kat & Brody's mom) information, I finally found a pair of Baby Legs (like foot-less tights that keep their legs covered and make diaper changes much easier) for the twins at Target. They are a less-expensive brand of Baby Legs. At first Jason didn't like the idea of Nicholas having a pair, but they do look really cute on him. I put them in them when I got home and they seemed to like the freedom of the Baby Legs. It keeps them warm, but also lets them crawl around with their knees covered.
This was the best picture we could get of them!

And here are their 'baby legs' (the ones God gave them - ha ha) in action! :) (p.s. now you are all in for more videos than you could ever want to see!)

Nicholas' silly face

Many times when Nicholas is eating, I make a silly face, and he copies it. I can promise his face is much cuter!!

Nicholas and Celia Kissing

I know I've shown plenty of pictures of them kissing, but I have one on video too from today :) Here it is:

Our first video blog

I finally got some video to work!!!! I borrowed my parent's camera and took a small clip and I think it should work. This was more of a 'practice' video, so nothing exciting is going on, and they are quiet since it is seconds before bedtime and they are tired. And my voice is all high-pitched talking to them. ha ha
So, I will need to try this with Nicholas & Celia walking!



Update: I just tried this with my own camera and it works!!! So I will be able to add video now! I am so excited! It must be because of our new computer?!

We have TWO walkers!!!!

I am so excited! Today Nicholas is walking more. He walked from almost the middle of the livingroom carpet to the couch twice today. And then in the kitchen we were videotaping him walking to a kitchen chair and we thought we would get more video of Celia standing. Well, she wasn't about to be outdone - she Took steps too! She walked a couple steps to her push-toy multiple times! These two are so funny on how close they are developmentally. When one is teething, the other is (they are both getting top teeth right now). They crawled within 2 days of each other. So cool watching two!

Blessed with Three

UPDATE: unfortunately, we found out at 8 weeks gestation that the heartbeat stopped.

Some of you may know, but we are expecting our third little baby. I am 7 weeks along right now - much more time to go, but today we saw this baby's heartbeat. It was at 133 beats per minute (they like to see between 120-160 bpm). Everything looks good.
The little ring in the ultrasound photo is the yolk ring, not the baby. The nurse said they arent positive on the function of the yolk ring, but it disappears after a few more weeks. So the little guy (or girl) is next to the ring.
This baby was a big surprise to us. We needed help having Nicholas and Celia and our chances were extremely slim. So 2 months after stopping pumping with the twins, and surprise! So, our due date is October 6, 2008. Three under the age of 2 should be interesting, but I can do it. :)

Nicholas took steps!

Today as I came in from shoveling a path near the front and back doors, Grandma (my Mom) picked Nicholas away from the patio door so I could come in. She set him down on his feet and he stood all alone for a moment, and then took a step. We both cheered!
We continued to stand him up and try to get him to step. He will take a couple steps towards his push-toys. He has taken 2,3, 4 steps at a time before plopping onto his bottom. It is so exciting to see him starting to walk!
Soon he will be walking all over. Its amazing to watch them go from helpless newborns to toddlers that can begin to move and think for themselves. Such a joy of being a parent.

Gravity Rules

Nicholas and Celia like watching me put the Little People Animals on the window ledge. Then I ask them to find certain animals that they know (bear, alligator, fish, zebra, tiger..). And the best fun is taking the animals and watching them crash to the floor.
Toddlers certainly find joy in gravity. Whether it is throwing food off their tray, throwing toys on the floor, tossing Nuks and pink kitty or green froggy out of their cribs, or bath toys out of the tub. A world without gravity certainly would be much more boring for these two.

Celia also loves to rip her bib off and toss it on the floor. After trying over and over to have her keep it on, I've gotten smarter. Now I layer her up in bibs, so as she peels one off, there is another underneath. She doesn't seem to realize it yet that there is another to take off right away. ha ha - I've outsmarted a 13 month old - a crowning achievement!!!

And I REALLY don't have them watch Baby Einstein that much, but this was them watching it again yesterday. They actually laid there for 15 min while I put folded clothes away and cleaned up the kitchen.

Celia can Stand all by herself

She is doing so well! She was so pleased with herself when we were taking these pictures of her tonight. She stood by herself the first time for almost a minute (well, could've been shorter, but seemed long!).



Celia is also saying "Hi" a lot and also can say a jumbled 'Kitty'. She also is getting both top teeth right now. She wakes up sometimes and orajel puts her back to sleep. She really is doing very well for getting those big top teeth. I suppose when they are finally breaking through she may have more discomfort.
Other than that both of them are really into pointing at things and going "uh". lol

Nicholas' bruised cheek

Nicholas kind of lost his balance a couple days ago playing with a wooden snake toy and tipped. His cheek/eye bone caught the wooden snake just right (or just wrong) and he almost immediately got this bruise on his eye/cheek bone.
He cried and cried. But Froggy made it better - and some rocking in the chair with Mom.
I brought up my chairs I used to have in my Kindergarten classroom for them to watch Baby Einstein. I think they are still needing to grow more since their feet still are far from touching the ground. :)

SOOO close

I am betting Nicholas will be walking soon! He is standing more and more all by himself the last 2 days and just doing so well!
Celia will not be far behind him! Its so exciting. :)

Couch Potatoes

N&C's most favorite video (actually really the only one that truely can hold their attention the whole time) is Baby Einstein Head to Toe. We get these videos from the library and can keep them 2 weeks at a time. A nice way to get free videos and see which ones they like without buying them.
When I turn it on most of the time I hold them both on the rocking chair at the same time and rock them while they watch it. Today I wondered if they would lay on the floor. Well, they did and they liked it. I think I am making couch potatoes!

Buddies

I am so happy to see Nicholas and Celia being buddies. Tonight they were just squealing following each other, playing hide and seek around the corners, kissing each other and just hanging out. I think that is something they will share being twins. Perhaps a closeness as they grow up (hopefully). Its just so sweet to see.
Lately when I give them Nuks right before nap or bedtime they almost always swap Nuks. I don't know why, but they crawl to each other, grab each other's nuks and swap. Then crawl on their way. Its funny because then Nicholas ends up with pink and Celia with blue.

Nicholas & Celia trying to kiss, but missing the mark:
Nicholas trying to kiss Celia, but she turned her head. Actually he likes to lick her too. lol
Here they are playing hide & Seek around the corner and then chasing each other down the hall

Silly pictures of N & C

Kissing in Costco

After morning nap and lunch, Nicholas, Celia, Grandma & Grandpa Maus and I headed out. We first went to Dena's Chocolate Shoppe. Dena is a lady who makes chocolates in her home and sells them various times through the year. VERY good!
Then we drove to Costco. Nicholas and Celia get lots of attention at Costco. Probably because then people can tell they are twins sitting in the double seat of the cart. People are so nice with their comments about how cute they are (of course we are all biased). lol
When I was pushing the cart by the freezer section Nicholas leaned over and tried to kiss Celia. She giggled and leaned in and they were sitting there kissing how babies kiss with tongues and everything. People actually stopped and watched laughing and saying "Look those cute twins are kissing". I was so happy to see them initiate that by themselves. They really have been kissy to each other lately. Probably because I am also helping them kiss each other all the time and they think it is funny. But, happy to see it.

They have been seeming to enjoy each other more. I see them crawl after one another between the playroom and living room and kitchen. Not that they are playing "together", just that they seem to like to be in the same vicinity as the other perhaps. Nicholas can still take Celia's toys and be a little pushy sometimes, but its nice to see them love each other too.

After dinner I took their clothes off in the livingroom so I could take them into the bath and Celia stood up holding on to the loveseat and peed on the side of the loveseat. Just like a little puppy! I had to get out their favorite little carpet cleaner (the Bissell Little Green). I thought it was kind of funny. :)

DHA for babies/toddlers

I found a great DHA supplement for babies 8 mos and older today. It is by Nordic Naturals.
This is a liquid DHA in which you give each child 1/2 teaspoon a day. It is free of the mercury and toxins that can be in some fish. DHA is said to improve mood, memory, learning ability, visual development and also help the immune system. So, in case you are interested, just passing it along. I found it for $13.95 at our local natural foods store (much less than online). So, if you have a natural foods store, I'd call them and see if they have it before ordering online in my opinion. This one tastes like Strawberry and they seemed to like it. :)

Getting closer to walking!

Celia and Nicholas are both able to hold onto one hand and walk next to us. They are getting so close!!! Celia is really catching up to Nicholas. Today I caught him completely standing alone for a while. He is also starting to transfer between things like my leg and a chair that is close.


They like to take turns pushing each other on the walking toys. Granted Celia has a little more work to do when its her turn to push. lol Shes one tough cookie. :)



This was a couple days ago. I took the cushions off the couch and laid them on the floor so they could climb and play safely without getting hurt. They had fun :) Reminds me, I should do it today too.


Oh, the joys of a cat door. We find balls, shoes, toys, anything at the basement stairs. This day they were throwing their pacifiers down the cat door. So, I went on the other side of the door and was playing with them.

And this is just a picture of how I catch Nicholas frequently. He will wander into the playroom and sit quiet and look at books. Celia's favorite thing in the playroom is to make certain toys (like the Sit and Stand Giraffe) play music so she can dance.

Genetics

*Jill (2 years old) and sister Angela


I found this picture last night and thought at this time, Nicholas has a little resemblance to me. If we took Jason and I's baby pictures and meshed them together you would probably get Nicholas. Earlier on, Celia kind of resembled my sister Angela (also in the picture), but now she is getting her own look. Genetics are so interesting.

Standing, Mount Blanket and Bathrobes

Celia stood up by herself with little or no support (like from a froggy squat to standing) about 3 times today. She is getting really good at standing without holding on to anything!!! I tried to catch a picture of her standing without support, but of course, babies never show off when there is a recording device nearby!


Nicholas LOVES to fall and bury himself in our blanket from the couch. So today I grabbed a few comforters, 2 blankets and some pillows and made Mount Blanket on the livingroom floor. They had fun kicking and rolling and climbing. :) We threw in some stuffed animals for good measure.


Lately after their bath I dry one off at a time, put on their baby robes and let them crawl away without a diaper on. I know, dangerous, but a little fresh air feels good on their baby bums. And really, I have a little steam cleaner for an accident. The baby robes are size 0-9 months, but they still fit, just a little short. After they crawl around for 10 minutes so I can clean up the bathroom, empty tub and get their diapers and pajamas ready, then I change them for bed. However, I think Celia had a little tinkle on her robe tonight.

Did anyone ever tell you toddlers are messy??

Now, I am being brave by posting pictures of my house being ravaged by twin toddlers on the internet, but here it goes!
This is what happened to the livingroom within a matter of a couple hours this morning. Lovely, isn't it! I end up straightening up 2x a day when they are at nap and then right after they go to bed for the night.


Then at dinner (the prior chili post) they synchronized their throwing food off the highchairs. They both held a chili bean over the edge, looked me in the eye (as I am saying "no no") and let go. Then proceeded to peak over the edge to see if the chili beans splattered to their liking.
These are my crazy babies and then the floor which they had decorated. I've found I need to take a rag and get it soapy and scrub the floor after they eat.



Also they went through my purse on the floor. Celia grabbed the lipstick and didnt want to let it go.

And then the other day they went through the newspaper and spread it all over the floor. I am not sure if they were thinking of boycotting diapers and just using the paper?? hmmmm.....