Thanksgiving

I had big plans for this weekend.  A big dinner on Thursday, train ride Friday, decorate tree Saturday...  In the end, so far all we have done is partially decorate the tree.  Both girls were sick.  Leeza has a bad chest cold and can't sleep or breathe when she lies down.  Saturday, Leeza had a bloody nose and it was a gusher.  When I pinched her nose, it kept coming and she ended up her coughing it out her mouth. It went everywhere. Sasha wasn't as bad She had a cold and then she got a stomach upset Friday.  So noone wanted any turkey.  We skipped the train as there was no bathroom on it and it was an hour ride.  The tree has lights, but no decorations yet and everyone is still sick.  I hope Christmas is better.

6am Daily Fashion Show



Mornings now bring a surprise everyday.  What will the girls get into this morning??  Some mornings they drag all of their blankets and stuffed animals into the closet.  I can hear Sasha on the monitor telling Leea to get into the closet so the monster doesn't get her.  I always thought the monsters lived in the closet.

 The good thing is that they are now old enough to clean up their own mess.  Although some mornings it takes a really long time.

 And then there is the daily fashion show.  They get into the bottom drawer of the dresser which is all their PJs.  This morning they decided to put on their monkey blanket sleepers.  I am assuming Leeza helped Sasha with hers and then tried to do hers by herself.  If you can't tell, it is twisted aroound her body about 3 times. 

  I like the view from the back.  Leeza could barely move it was so tight.  She went to bed with Dora PJs and pullups on and ended up with underwear, a sponge Bob shirt and a monkey blanket sleeper on.  She did put her pullup away in the underwear drawer so at least she picks up her clothes!

 There is my girl Leeza swimming away after her 4th lesson.  Of course, she has a floatie on to help her as the girl has 0% body fat and is all bones and muscles so she doesn't float well.

 She can go the whole length of the pool doing a modified front crawl stroke and doggie paddle combo. 

 Floating is a lot harder as you can tell her legs do not float at all.  She has grown an inch in the last 2 months and has not gained any weight.  She is getting tall and skinny.

 Sasha has a good time at the lessons too.  Of course, she only gets in at the end, when they get to play around with the toys in the pool.  She does love water, but she wants nothing to do with the instructors.

My little swimmers!  Once the lessons are done, we will probably take a break and then maybe sign Leeza up for the next class level or try gymnastics for a change.

Toddler beds

I knew the transition from cribs to toddler beds would be rough.  They are feeling the freedom of the little beds and taking full advantage of it.  I now am staying in their room for about 15 minutes after our song time to make sure they go to sleep and not stay up playing.  Once Leeza falls asleep I can leave- Sasha will still be awake, but her playmate is out so she is calm and stays in bed.  They get up in the morning and go to the potty before I get up now which will eventauly be nice, but now they run up and down the hall(pants around the ankles of course) giggling and calling for mama to wipe the little behinds.  Normally I get up, let the dog out, get a few things ready in the kitchen, feed the dog and then go get the girls.  Now they are standing there at the gate to the living room waiting for me to come out of my room and want immediate attention.  I miss that 5 minutes of organization time in the morning.
Nap time Saturday was good, but they were so tired from the week and swimming that they went to sleep without a fight.  Sunday they never did sleep!  I finally just let them play in their room as I had things I needed to do without my little shadows.  I found them with all their blankets and all their stuffed animals in the closet.  They had made a little bed in there and  were having a good time.   At bedtime, I put them in bed 20 minutes early and they were out within 5 minutes.  Leeza had purple rings under her eyes - she was sooo tired.  Even Sasha needed her nap today and was yawning at 6:30, but at least bedtime was easy!

Nap TIme

Bedtime last night went surprising well.  Nobody up roaming and no issues.  Nap time with the new beds has been rough.  They spent an hour switching beds back and forth.  They ended up in the same bed and then in no bed on the floor.  They discovered they could open the door and go to the bathroom- they did this 3 times.  They took off all their clothes on one of the potty trips.  Of course, they have to do everything together.  Finally, I had to go in and sit in the room until they fell asleep.  So the 2 naked girls are at least in the right beds and a sleep-for a while.
I took the cribs apart today.  Leeza has asked for her crib back.  I'll have to see if she really wants it back.  She doesn't deal with change well and this is a big change for her.  I will give her a few days to get used to it, but I can convert her crib into a toddler bed so if she want it back, I can make it work.

Halloween

 The girls went as monkeys.  They figured out the trick or treating pretty quickly as well as how to get the candy open and eat it all!

 We carved pumpkins and decorated them with some foam stickers.  Sasha cleaned out part of her pumpkin- one seed at a time with a spoon.  Leeza would have nothing to do with the slimy insides of the pumpkin.

 Adding stickers- after the icky cleaning part was done.

Decorating pumpkins takes a lot of concentration! 
The girls had a good time trick or treating as we went around our block and to the local fire station and to a few friends houses. 

Catching up-random things=

 Aunt Debbie and cousin Niki sent the girls aboout 20 rubber duckies.  All of which ended up in the bathtub with the toys that we already in there.  There is just a little room left in the tub for the girls to get in- the rest is toys.

 I had planned on getting the girls twin beds for Christmas, but they are still a little young for them-plus I would like to put them in bunk beds if they are going to share a room.  I think they would do better in separate rooms as Leea needs more sleep, but so far they can't be separated.  So when I saw these Dora beds, I decided that would be a good next step!  So much for saving them for Christmas though!  There goes my good idea for Christmas.  Now I need to come up with a different one.
The girls climbed into bed while I was still trying to arrange the room and set the beds up.  I have not taken away their cribs yet until they spend some time in their big girl beds and can sleep ok.

 With 5 or 6 blankets and about the same amount of stuffed animals, the little beds are rather crowded, but they are very close to the floor which is good.  Leeza has already fallen out twice.  They are used to jumping on their beds and having the bars keep them in the bed. 

 The girls are still growing although not quite as quickly as they were.

This is one year of growth.  Leeza grew over 6 inches in one year- pretty amazing.

Swimming =Lesson 3

Sasha didn't swim again until the very end of class where it is free swim.  She got to swim for about 5 minutes in the shallow end, but that made her happy.  Leeza did really good again.  She tries really ahrd and has the movements down, but she is all bones and muscles and not body fat so she doesn't float very well.  She can swim the length of the pool with a float though and can jump in the water and get back out by herself.  My goal was just so if they got in over their heads, they could get out ok.  I think Leeza can do that now.  Since Leeza will know how to swim a little, I can teach Sasha myself.  I can teach one kid, but not two at the same time.