More kids, more pages on this blog. This, however, will certainly be the last one. Just like the other three, the twins are getting their own space on here, too. But since life gets in the way of this blog more often than not these days, they’re going to share a page. Sorry, guys.
And the title, The N/A Chronicles? That stands for The Nat/Avit Chronicles, not The Nonalcoholic Chronicles. Life with 5 kids without some cocktails here and there? Not a chance. So check back here to see how the story of our twins unfolds.
(FYI, because I write so much about these kids, their pages are all broken into yearly chunks so as not to crash my site. I’ll keep the current year on the main page for ease of use. Enjoy!)
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January 3, 2019
Avit, you have 2 new teeth coming in right now! Bottom, either side of the front 2. Now you’ll match Nat with 4 on top and 4 on the bottom.
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January 6, 2019
The end is in sight, my loves. Of formula, that is! I bought your first gallon of organic whole milk at the store today, and I’m beginning to mix your bottles of formula with it for a slow introduction. My goal is to have you fully used to it by the end of the month when you turn 1, so that we’re completely done with formula by then. I’m finished nursing and pumping, so the breastmilk supply is over. I do have 1 bag of frozen milk left that I’m saving for your 1st birthday so you can have it one last time, then that’s it. I’m starting by mixing 2 oz. of whole milk into each of your 8 oz. bottles, and so far I haven’t noticed any adverse reactions. Avit, you’ve been pooping a lot, but you always do, so I don’t think that’s a sign of any sort of lactose intolerance. You’ve both also seemed less sensitive to drinking cooler bottles lately, so hopefully by the end of the month we can just pour you bottles of whole milk and you’ll be good! I also have your new convertible car seats, so you will be moving out of the infant carrier seats soon. You’re getting so big!
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January 10, 2019
Avit, I’m afraid you’re catching the bug the big 3 have had this week. You were really fussy during the late afternoon and your dinner today, and when I took you out of your high chair you felt warm. I took your temperature – 100.0. Great. So I gave both of you some infant ibuprofen in your bedtime bottles in the hopes that it’ll help you sleep tonight. I really hate when you guys get sick, because there’s so little I can do to help get rid of it. Feel better, my little snuggle bug!
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January 14, 2019
Avit, you are definitely a full-time walker now. Unfortunately you’ve caught the cold your siblings had last week, so now you’re coughing and flinging a trail of snot and slobber with you as you walk around the house. Nat, you’ve started walking along things while holding on instead of just standing in one spot, and you pull up to stand on anything now, so I know your walking days will be at hand soon, too!
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January 30, 2019
You both have 2 more teeth coming in! Avit, your top ones on either side of the current 4 are just poking through, and Nat, the next top 2 on the left side are poking through for you. Chompers!
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January 31, 2019
Happy 1st birthday, my loves!! I can’t believe my littlest beans are a full year old! What a year it’s been with you two, too. Never did I imagine having twins, let alone 5 kids, but you two have made it all worth it and amazing. My love for my children has always been unending, but it just grew even bigger when you were born. You had a pretty fun day today. The girls were off school for another cold day; Daddy didn’t have to go to work until noon; I made you scrambled eggs for breakfast; you played with your siblings, watched some Little Baby Bum, and took 2 good naps; you wore your new birthday onesies after naps; got your new personalized blankets and more bootie slippers for presents; had little blueberry muffins for your 1st birthday treats; and I saved the last bag of breastmilk for your bedtime bottles. It’s so strange to think you’re not really infants anymore, because that’s all I’ve ever known you as – twin babies. But every day you grow, my heart just expands. I love you two so much! Happy Birthday!!
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February 9, 2019
Avit, I saw you dancing today! You were standing in the kitchen in front of the sink, and you looked over at me and started bouncing up and down with one of your little hands in the air. Natty Nat, I saw you do the same thing a couple weeks ago standing next to the couch right next to me. It’s too cute!
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February 19, 2019
Nat, you started clapping today!
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February 20, 2019
Nat, you have 3 new teeth coming in – the next 2 on the top right and the next one on the bottom left.
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March 1, 2019
Avit, you’ve started dancing, and it’s hilarious. You stomp your little feet in place, and sometimes you bend up and down and bob your head.
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March 2, 2019
Avit, you have 2 more teeth coming in now, too – the bottom 2 teeth on either side of the front 4 are starting to poke through.
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March 4, 2019
I blew kisses to you guys at nap time this afternoon, and Avit, you started making kissing noises back to me! It was so cute, I love it!
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March 5, 2019
Nat, 2 more teeth! The next 2 on the top left are poking through now, including your first big one (a molar?).
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March 6, 2019
We finally had your 12-month well check today, and here are the stats:
Nat
- Weight: 22 lbs. (53%)
- Height: 30.5″ (56%)
- Head: 46.6 cm (57%)
- BMI: 16.6 kg/m2 (48%)
Avit
- Weight: 24 lbs. 6 oz. (84%)
- Height: 31″ (75%)
- Head: 47.2 cm (74%)
- BMI: 17.8 kg/m2 (79%)
Ok, so a couple things here. Avit, you are obviously heavier than Nat when we pick you up, so it was fun to finally see by exactly how much. Also, you definitely are not taller than Nat – you guys were squirming around on the table when the nurse tried to stretch you out to measure your height, so that is wrong. When you guys stand next to each other, Nat is clearly taller. I was instructed to take your daily milk amount down from 30-32 oz. to 24 oz. Avit, Dr. Cafaro said this might help with your terrible dry skin and maybe even out your weights a little. Nat, your head still has its obvious flat spot on the back right side, but I read that kids’ heads have years to round out before they’re permanently fused. Dr. Cafaro has never been worried about it or instructed us to do anything about it, so hopefully it will round. I can’t help but worry about it, but it hasn’t impeded your development at all so far. Otherwise everything looked great! Avit, you ran around the exam room in your diaper, which she loved to see, and Nat, you crawled right on over to the little chairs, pulled yourself up instantly, and started walking along the furniture just like you do here, which made her very happy to see. She said you’re so close to walking she has no worries at all. You each got 3 shots in your legs and they went in the sides instead of the tops of your thighs, so those were painful. But you stopped crying as soon as we picked you up and really had no ill effects afterward. Great checkup, little ones!
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March 7, 2019
It’s the end of an era – I took down the jumperoos today and put the playpen in the living room, so no more dueling jumpers. It’s a little bittersweet since we’ve had the Fisher Price one since Della was a baby, but it was time. I figured it’d be more fun for you guys to actually be able to play while you’re contained instead of just hanging, and I was right. You both like being in the playpen, Nat, you especially. You get a bunch of toys, and you love being in there together. You also like to throw your own toys in and out, you silly little things.
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March 9, 2019
I started giving you guys your bottles cold today, because I am tired of using the bottle warmers. I know none of the other 3 had warm bottles by this point, and I know I never ever heated up a bottle of whole milk before now. You both dislike it. Nat, you actually hate it. So I’m starting by getting your bottles out or poured about an hour-ish before you drink them to try to get them closer to room temp for you. Sometimes it’s not that long, just enough to take the chill off. And yes, I can do that in the warmers, but I just want them out of the kitchen. You guys can learn. And if you don’t like it, I won’t have to worry about giving you too much milk anymore because you just won’t drink it.
You 2 were in the playpen this morning, and Nat, you were “reading” to Avit from your little Baby Babble book. Also, Nat, your next tooth on the bottom left is coming in – it’s a big one, another molar?
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March 12, 2019
It’s the end of another era – I swapped out the infant bucket car seats for your new convertible ones. Not as bittersweet as the jumpers since your car seats were new instead of used by the other kids. These new ones are bigger than I expected and almost take up more room than the infant ones, but they’ll have to do. They’re the narrowest ones around! If we still have too much trouble getting Della’s tumble seat forward and around the side of yours, Nat, I might put one of you in the third row with Lana, but we’ll see. So far you really like them – I think you like being more open and being able to see everyone better. Now I actually have to put coats on you guys in the mornings to go to school, though, since you’re not snuggled down in your buckets anymore. Oh well – you look cute in them! And Della has agreed to be my “baby watcher” in the mornings – she stays in with one of you while I put the other in your seat since you’re not contained anymore. Getting so big!
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March 17, 2019
Nat, you were covered in a rash when you woke up tonight after bedtime and proceeded to stay up until 10:00. They looked like little red pinpoints, no sores, didn’t seem to bother you at all, and your fever was gone. What in the world? You were acting fine, not even sick at all, so I’m not worried about it. Roseola typically starts with a high, spiking fever, which you never had, so I don’t think it’s that. I have a feeling it will just fade on its own.
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March 18, 2019
Avit, you have a little bit of the rash Nat has, but not nearly as widespread as his. You do have some little pimples on your face and a gross pus-filled pimple sore thing on your right hand, though, that made me instantly think of hand, foot, and mouth. But you don’t have any sores on your face or in your mouth or on your legs or feet. So, like the rash, it doesn’t have me worried. I’ll see how it progresses these next couple days, especially since both of your fevers are gone.
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March 19, 2019
All rashes are much better, if not completely gone. See, I was right not to be worried on this one. My mama gut is pretty good for feelings. Now if we can just get these colds and your snot cleared up, Avit.
Nat, you were sitting on the dining room floor this afternoon brushing your hair with a little white toy brush. It was the cutest thing ever! You were actually doing it right, and you did it repeatedly, not just a fluke like you happened to rub your hand on your head while holding a brush. How funny!
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March 20, 2019
Nat, today I watched you knock Avit over in the playpen and climb right on top of him. You little brute! Avit, you poor thing, you barfed all over yourself in the stroller this afternoon on the walk home from school pickup. Lana was walking in front of me and turned around, and she said, “Ew, Avit barfed!” Sure enough, I peeked in the rain cover and there was gross, chunky, milky vomit all over you, all over your coat, all over your hands, all over your straps, on the blanket you guys had across your laps, and even on the inside of the rain cover where you’d smeared it with your hands. So gross! Then I could hear you throwing up a couple more times as we got closer to home, but nothing more was really coming out, just some mucus. You poor little thing! Daddy helped me get Nat out of the stroller when we got home so I could get you right into the bathtub, then he cleaned all the barf out of your stroller seat. It was pretty disgusting. Fortunately you seemed ok after that, though, and we haven’t seen any more barf yet. Please don’t have the flu! Your cold seems to be getting better and fevers are gone, so let’s not add more vomiting into the mix.
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March 22, 2019
Avit, you started clapping today, too! So cute.
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March 24, 2019
Nat, you are finally lifting up a sippy cup to actually take a drink! Awesome. I’ve gotten you two some new stainless steel bottles with soft spouts to help transition from bottles with nipples, and you’re doing pretty well. You’ll drink a little water out of them at meals, but you don’t like having your milk in them. It’s a start, though. Baby steps I guess.
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April 1, 2019
I don’t remember which teeth I updated last, but here is where you guys stand with chompers: Nat, all 4 of your first molars are now coming in, and all the teeth before them in line are in as well. Avit, your bottom right first molar is finally through after being big and red and sore last week, but none of the other 3 yet. All the teeth before them in line are through, too.
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April 2, 2019
Avit, today you tried to put on a hat and glasses – you know what to do with them both!
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April 3, 2019
Nat, today you were dancing to Little Baby Bum songs, actually bobbing to the music. It was so cute! You also mimicked me saying “uh-oh” almost perfectly.
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April 5, 2019
Nat, now you mimicked “shh” and were saying Mama – it was more like a string of ma-ma-mas, but still, I’ll take it. Avit, you fell, hit your face on the floor, and got a bloody nose. Ouch, my poor little boy!
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April 8, 2019
Nat, you took your first little half step on your own today! I put you over the gate into the living room, and you stayed standing instead of plopping right down to crawl away. Then you took a tiny little step forward!
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April 10, 2019
Nat, you were actually dancing to a song today, not just dancing to move around. It’s so cute!
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April 12, 2019
Nat, you have developed the funniest little hop-scoot on your knees to get around. Is it your first version of walking? You are getting better at standing by yourself.
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April 13, 2019
Avit, you learned how to crawl up onto the couch today. Oh no!!
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April 14, 2019
Avit, your top right first molar is coming in.
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April 15, 2019
Avit, now your bottom left first molar is coming in. Teeth all over the place for you!
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April 16, 2019
Nat, you almost climbed up on the couch now, too, using the coffee table as a step. Not quite, though, thank goodness.
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April 19, 2019
Nat, you climb up on the couch now, too, even though you can’t walk yet. OMG, what am I going to do?!
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April 24, 2019
Nat, you blew kisses to the garbage truck today. It was the cutest thing ever!
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April 25, 2019
Nat, you mimicked me saying “hello,” and it’s actually really good.
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April 28, 2019
Nat, now you’re up to taking a couple steps at a time – toward us, from the end of my couch to the playpen in the living room, between furniture. Today you were reading your little Brewers board books, moving your tiny little index finger along the page. You were also putting your hand up to your ear and saying “hello.” They way you guys imitate is so adorable.
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April 29, 2019
Nat, today you walked from the front closet almost all the way to the puzzle bench, then again from the rug almost all the way to the toy drawer. Great job!!! You’re our last little walker! Then tonight you walked across the kitchen from the candy drawers to about the mat at the sink, then across the dining room to the kitchen threshold. Quite an amazing day for you, my sweet boy!
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May 3, 2019
Avit, your top left first molar is finally poking through.
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May 22, 2019
You guys had your 15-month checkups today, and all looked good. Avit, Dr. Cafaro always asks when we’re giving up the pacifier for you so it doesn’t mess up your teeth, but I don’t think they look crooked at all right now. Plus I don’t know how you’ll give it up until you stop screaming! Here are the stats:
Nat
- Height: 32″ (71%)
- Weight: 22 lbs. 15 oz. (48%)
- Head: 47 cm (52%)
- BMI: 15.7 kg/m2 (30%)
Avit
- Height: 32″ (71%)
- Weight: 25 lbs. 5 oz.
- Head: 48 cm
- BMI: 17.4 kg/m2
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May 27, 2019
You are both done with bottles and were well before 16 months. You drink both your milk and water from stainless steel water bottles with sippy tops.
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June 3, 2019
Nat, I swear we heard you say potato this afternoon!
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June 20, 2019
You both experienced your first time swimming today – you splashed around in the lake on our family vacation with your little inner tube floats on. Nat, you had a rough start by charging right into the water, tipping over on your face, and getting scared to death. But after holding you for a few minutes, I was able to put you back down in the water and you loved it! Avit, you were so busy climbing in and out of the lake and looking for rocks you didn’t play in the water too much at all. You were definitely having fun, though!
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June 29, 2019
You guys got your first haircuts today from Daddy, and you absolutely hated them! He used the clippers in our bathroom, and I think the noise and vibration scared you. But you look absolutely adorable!! I put you both in the tub afterward to get all the hair off, then quickly realized that was just making it all stick to you more in the water. So you then had your first showers to rinse all the hair off, and you loved those. It was so cute!
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July 12, 2019
Nat, I think you might be left-handed. Last week you were using sidewalk chalk with your left hand, and lately you pick up your silverware and use it with you left hand every time I give it to you. The only lefty in our house!
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July 26, 2019
You guys blow kisses now when I put you to bed, and it’s the cutest thing ever! Unfortunately you also figure out how to move Nat’s crib all the way over to my dressers so you can screw around with my stuff, which is not the cutest thing ever.
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July 31, 2019
Happy 18-month birthday, you little squirts! I’m trying to get you down to just one nap in the afternoon now, so we’ll see how it goes. Maybe it’ll help with the early morning wake-ups.
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August 4, 2019
Nat, you have a couple “words” now: bath-bath, nigh-night, cheese (to eat and for the camera), Mama, puffs, and then something that sounds like ba-bo when I say water. Avit, you talk in your sleep every night, and it is hilarious. It sounds exactly like your cute little chatter all day long. You also say cheese now every time you see someone with a camera or phone camera.
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August 17, 2019
You guys both learned how to say choo-choo today while playing with Morrison’s mini Thomas trains. You also know that ducks say quack-quack and imitate it every time you play with your bathtub and rolling toy ducks. It’s so cute!
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September 10, 2019
18 month stats:
Nat
- Height: 33.25″ (63%)
- Weight: 23 lbs. 12 oz. (36%)
- Head: 47.7 cm (53%)
- BMI: 15.1 kg/m2 (22%)
Avit
- Height: 34.5″ (93%)
- Weight: 27 lbs. 5 oz. (82%)
- Head: 48.8 cm (82%)
- BMI: 16.1 kg/m2 (52%)
The heights are wrong again, because you are definitely not over an inch different in height, but everything else looked good.
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October 2, 2019
Avit, I’m sorry, but I’ve had it with the spitting, and you finally got hot sauce in your mouth today like Lana used to. You do it constantly, it is beyond disgusting, and I hate it. You are also the one who laughs when you get punished, which simply enrages me further, so I really hope this trick actually affects you in some way. I held you down, poured a little on your tongue, and thankfully you hated it. GOOD! Then you started spitting again later in the day, I got the bottle out of the fridge and showed it to you, and you cowered down and ran away. Again, GOOD! I’ve had enough of this garbage.
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October 27, 2019
You both just had the best day ever! We had an absolutely gorgeous day for trick-o-treating for pretty much the first time ever, you played in our yards afterward in your costumes with Mr. Hand and Miss Clara (Nat, you were the chick coming out of an egg and Avit, you were Slimer from Ghostbusters. Could not have been more fitting!), you learned to go down the smaller slide by yourselves, and you had the most amazing fun. You got to run free, something you rarely get to do outside since it’s nearly impossible for me to keep control of both of you out there by myself, and your faces and souls were so happy. So was mine!
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November 11, 2019
You guys got your second haircuts from Daddy with the clippers this afternoon, and you both did fantastically! Neither of you flinched or cried at all, basically the complete opposite from last time. Nat, all your long, fluffy hair is gone, and I’ve started calling you Buzz Aldrin. Those trims were long overdue!
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November 22, 2019
Natty beans, you are fully jumping now! Both feet come off the floor. You’ve been pretty close for a while, but tonight it was big jumps.
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December 3, 2019
You guys have both gotten great at imitating animal sounds. Nat, you can do a pig, horse, cow, duck, dog, and frog, and you even do a little hop when you say ribbit. Avit, you can also do a horse, cow, pig, dog, and duck. Nat, the other day you pointed up to the top of the bookshelf in the living room and made kind of a little snorting noise. I looked up there, having no idea what you were doing, and I saw a Peppa Pig tin that is what you were pointing at and making a pig noise for. Good job!
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December 4, 2019
Nat, you did a fake achoo today – too funny!
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December 14, 2019
Avit, you are now the only kid who’s missed a picture with Santa because you were throwing a temper tantrum. Even Della’s 1-year-old picture with Santa, where she was crying and trying to squirm off his lap, she still got in the picture. Today you were a terror. For some reason, you started crying when I picked you up to leave the house and just never stopped. You cried when I held you, you cried as you ran around the mall rotunda, you cried as we waited in line. So we didn’t even bother trying to get you near Santa. Nat and the big 3 did totally fine. Way to go, little turd.
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December 21, 2019
Nat, both of your second molars on the left side are almost all the way in. Could that explain some of the crabbiness lately? I’ve noticed you’ve also had your hands in your mouth recently, something you rarely do. Avit, none of your second molars are coming in yet.
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December 25, 2019
Merry Christmas, you little squirts! You had so much fun running around this morning seeing what everyone else was opening and playing with that you barely even wanted to open your own gifts. It’s a good thing, then, that Santa planned ahead for that and only got you 2 things. 😉 Watching you with the big kids will just get better every year!
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December 30, 2019
Avit, you had your first dentist visit today. Well, you both were there, but Avit, you were the one in the chair on my lap. You’ve had this gross brown stain along the gum line of almost every tooth for months now, and at my last visit I asked our hygienist about it. She knew exactly what I was talking about and said to bring you in just to give it a shot, so we did. She started by trying to polish it off with some cherry-flavored polish and a little grit, and you absolutely hated it. She could barely even get to your teeth, and we were both laughing hysterically. Finally something clicked, though, and she was actually able to get almost all of it off. Great job! I was mainly worried that it was harming or rotting your teeth, but she assured me it’s totally harmless, just stain. So I said ok cool, we’ll just leave it now until you start your regular dentist visits.
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December 31, 2019
Happy last day of the decade, my loves. Wow! Here’s to a great next 10 in the 2020s!