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 1, 2021
Happy New Year, little ones! Fortunately the craziness of 2020 really had no effect on you guys, so hopefully 2021 will be just as smooth and good. I love you two so much, and you’re starting to get so big!
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January 13, 2021
You guys are so smart! You love to sing all your songs, and you can both now sing the full ABCs. Avit, you are an absolute sponge and have learned all the little songs, letters, sayings, etc., on your Scout and blue monkey learning toys. You know your letters and numbers and can count almost to 20 without error. Nat, you’re not as good as Avit with recognizing letters and numbers, but you are an incredible colorer. You stay in the lines for even the tiniest details. It’s very impressive for a 2 year old!
And in other news, we have successfully gotten to only having your plugs for naps and nighttimes! I started doing this last week, because the 2 of you would literally walk around with your plugs in your mouths ALL DAY, even talking with them in. I know they’re horrible for your teeth, but they kept you quiet while the big kids are doing school. But I knew it was time for them to go. Thankfully you have done an excellent job with keeping them in your cribs from the first day we started it. Now if we could only get you to show ANY interest in using the toilet. Someday, I guess…
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January 31, 2021
Happy 3rd birthday, my littlest squirts! It sounds so crazy to say that you guys are 3 years old. That sounds so big! You had a really fun day. Grandpa Frank came up yesterday on his birthday to spend the celebration weekend, and Avit, you had been waiting all week – asking constantly if he was here yet and wanting to sit on his lap. Della made you guys your funfetti Uni and Mickey Mouse cake, and Grandpa brought up a great Daniel Tiger cake from my favorite bakery in Peoria. You had a blast tearing into your presents this morning, a huge snowstorm blew in last night so you got to play outside in that with the big kids, Miss Clara came over to have the Uni and Mickey cake with us, and you couldn’t wait to dig into the Daniel Tiger cake tonight. You 2 amaze me daily (and enrage me sometimes, I won’t lie!), and I really don’t think I could love you more. Happy birthday, my loves! And many, many more!!
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February 4, 2021
Avit, you are so funny. This morning you were determined to put your clothes on by yourself. You gave the pants a shot first, and those didn’t go so well. You tried to put both legs in one hole, then got them halfway turned inside out. However, you got your shirt on the right way all by yourself! Then of course Nat had to try, too, even though he was already dressed. So by the time I got out to the living room, you had both taken your clothes off and were trying to re-dress yourselves. Nat, you managed to get your shirt twisted around and upside down, so I helped with that round. But great job trying! That’s the first time either of you has wanted to dress yourselves.
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February 10, 2021
I don’t want to jinx anything, but I think we may be done with pacifiers! 2 days ago we were cleaning out your toy bucket to make room for the new stuff you got for your birthdays and to give stuff away to other babies, and I said we were going to put your plugs in the bag, too. So that afternoon, Avit, you right away got your plug and dropped it into one of the school supplies bags hanging on the front closet door and said, “Bye-bye, plug!” Nat, you soon followed suit, and I was shocked. No way was it going to be that easy! But that night, we got both of you all ready for bed, you each gave your plug a hug and kiss and dropped it back into the bag, and you went to bed for the night pacifier free with no crying at all! Ok, awesome. Yesterday you both woke up and snuck your plugs into your mouths when you came out to the living room to play, but that wasn’t surprising. Yesterday for naps, however, was a totally different story. You both cried forever, wanting your plugs. Nat, you were the worst, so I tried putting Avit in your crib to calm you down and sleep together. Nope. Half an hour later and you 2 were just farting around in there. So then I separated you, gave you more drinks of water, and Nat, you finally fell asleep. Avit, you continued crying, only falling asleep after I’d done my entire workout and gotten in the shower, a full hour and a half after I put you 2 to bed. Gheesh. Last night we were all exhausted, and thankfully it was much easier with no plugs. The “babies” had come to pick up the bag of your old toys, which you thought had your plugs in it, so they weren’t even an option, they were just gone. (I obviously still have them all, just in case, and hidden.) Nat, you started crying because you got in trouble and of course called for your plug, but I got you laughing while we were getting pj’s on and then you were better. After that, though, bedtime was fine with no plugs. And today for naps there wasn’t even a mention of them. So fingers crossed that plugs are all done!
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February 17, 2021
We had your 3-year well checks tonight, and you did great – thank you!! It was the first time I took you to the doctor without having you in the double stroller, so I was definitely nervous. Especially since you can’t run around the waiting room and play with any toys right now. You have to sit in only one chair, because they have to clean the exact ones we touch once we’re done. Thankfully I actually had the forsight to take a tablet, so one of you could watch PBS Kids on my phone while the other watched it on the tablet. I knew the doctor’s office has good wi-fi, so that worked beautifully. And you both kept your masks on the whole time! Lana had her checkup at the same time, so she helped hold your hands through the parking deck and waiting in the check-in line, too. You absolutely loved seeing the Disney characters on the big wall deals once we were in the office hallway, but I wasn’t worried about you moving around in there. Plus Dr. Cafaro loves seeing you guys, so that eased my worry tremendously once we got out of the waiting room. So here are your official 3-year stats:
Nat
- Height: 39.5″ (90%)
- Weight: 34 lbs. (73%)
- Head circumference: 51 cm
- BMI: 15.3 kg/m2 (26%)
- Blood pressure: 96/62
Avit
- Height: 39.25″ (87%)
- Weight: 35 lbs. (80%)
- Head circumference: 53 cm
- BMI: 16 kg/m2 (50%)
- Blood pressure: 92/60
Avit, you have a very slight heart murmur, and Dr. Cafaro said it’s almost definitely a Still’s murmur, which is the same one Lana had. Thankfully it is a benign murmur, so she’s not worried whatsoever. She didn’t even recommend a visit to the cardiologist like we did with Lana. It was even quieter when she double checked it while you were standing up, so she just said we’ll keep an eye on it at your next visit. Obviously nothing with your heart will be taken lightly, but having gone through the same thing already with your big sister, it’s not nearly as frightening. Otherwise, everything else was awesome! You guys showed off all your climbing and jumping skills, galloping around the tiny exam room like crazy. She asked you both if you could hop on one foot, and Nat, you were a rockstar. Avit, you couldn’t quite get it, much preferring the gallop, but the concentration we could see in your little face as you lifted one foot then tried to hop on that other base foot was incredible! We’ll nail it, for sure. She was very happy to hear you’re done with pacifiers, and she’s not concerned at all about no potty training yet. We’re going to give it a first shot over spring break when the big kids don’t have any school meetings, then we’ll revisit over the summer if it doesn’t work. Great job growing and staying healthy, little ones!
Avit, unrelated to the doctor visit, but I wanted to note something cute you do before I forget about it. You guys have started waking up really early again, usually by 5:30. It just started about the same time we got rid of the plugs, so whether or not it’s related or just coincidence, I have no idea. Anyway, you two usually climb out of your beds in your jammie sacks and run out to the living room to have Daddy turn on the TV. When I get up, Avit, you in particular come back in to say good morning and pick up my slippers so I can slide them on my feet. It’s so cute! I will say, you two have been using some really good manners and have been playing together and sharing much better. When you’re not causing extreme mischief, it’s actually a blast to watch. Especially when you sing all your little songs while you work and play. Nat, you always sing the ABCs, and Avit, you sing whatever Daniel Tiger or Little Baby Bum or Cocomelon one you have in your head that day. I love you so much, you cute little stinkers!
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March 24, 2021
It’s been a big couple days for you guys. Yesterday I rearranged my plants to get them off the dining room table, got rid of your high chairs, and brought the booster seats up from the basement, so you sit at the table just like the big kids now! It’s so nice having the extra room back in the dining room that we’ve really never had. Then today, we went on our first hike as a whole family – no strollers, no carriers, you guys walked the whole 2 miles, and you did great! You’re getting so big!
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April 11, 2021
Nat, big day for you yesterday. I took the rail side off the front of your bed so it looks like it will when you move into the big kids’ room. You are doing a great job staying right in it when I put you to bed and not screwing around, and you only fell out twice last night. 😀 After the first time, around 2:30, I expected you to start screaming because it was a pretty loud thud. Instead, I heard the quietest, tiniest whisper, “I’m ok.” I love you so much, my sweet little boy.
Also, you two, we’re giving potty training a shot. My plan was to do this last fall when the big kids went back to school all day, but that didn’t happen until last week, so we started then. Avit, so far you’ve done far better, since Nat, you wouldn’t even get on the toilet. But today we had a breakthrough. Neither of you had an accident, and Nat, you not only peed on the toilet all day but you pooped, too! We still obviously put your diapers on for sleeping, going in the stroller, going in the car, etc., but you’ve both played outside with undies on and everything. I can only hope this keeps up and is for real!
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May 12, 2021
I hope I’m not jinxing everything by putting this out in the universe, but I’m gonna go ahead and call you 2 potty trained. Wahoo!! You’ve done a pretty great job from the start, but the key for sure was the Baby Shark potty seat Daddy found for you. Nat, you have a very high and to the left stream, and although you were doing it all right by knowing when to go and getting on the potty seat by yourself in time, you kept peeing right out of the toilet. I’ve never had to wash pee off the shower curtain so many times before. Or ever. The amount of pee I was cleaning up daily was getting so frustrating, because you weren’t doing it wrong. So this new potty seat just sits right on the toilet, too, but has a really high, flexible splash guard in the front. I can position it just right so it catches everything, and it’s worked like a charm! You’ve both even been out of diapers for the stroller, car, park, playing outside, even naps for a couple weeks now, too! I do put your “crinkle pants” on for naps, even though they really don’t hold anything in if an accident happens. They’re those little nylon undies that just go on over your regular undies for a little extra wetness protection. Diapers at night are still a must and probably will be for a while, but I’ll take it. You’ve both awoken in the morning dry a couple times, but nothing regularly yet. I canceled all of our monthly diaper delivery subscriptions for the first time in almost 10 years, though. I can’t even believe it!
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July 2, 2021
First off, you guys have been out of diapers all together for about a month – yay!! You’re in overnight pull-ups instead of overnight diapers, and you go more often than not staying dry all night. Great job!
Also, Nat, just today after lunch you were so funny. You were lining all of your stuffies “guys” up in the dining room and taking pictures of them on your little camera, and Avit kept trying to get in your pictures. You said, “Avit, get out of my picture, I’m working so hard!” Della and I both started laughing at your bossy little order. 😀
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July 3, 2021
You guys are officially insane. I gave you a bath tonight, got you both washed, went out to the kitchen to wash dishes, then heard you both start laughing hysterically. Daddy went in to see what you were doing, and he took a video of you smashing your buns on each other’s laps and rubbing your buns together. Gross, you little weirdos! But you were having the time of your life and, surprisingly, the bathroom wasn’t soaked in water when I came in to dry you off. Ah, youth. 😀
Also, Nat, you FINALLY learned how to hold your own pee straight down into the toilet tonight so it doesn’t spray up and out and all over the shower curtain and floor. I have had to do it for you for months now, going into the bathroom with you every single time, and I can’t even begin to tell you how happy this makes me. I told you how proud I was of you and how proud you should be of yourself. HALLELUJAH!!!
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July 13, 2021
You guys checked out your first library books today! You can’t officially get your own library cards until you can write your names, so I checked them out for you, but it’s the first time you actually got something. After deciding between Peppa Pig, Daniel Tiger, and some Easter books, you finally both chose 2 PJ Masks books. And of course one of them was the same one. 😀
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July 27, 2021
Nat, congratulations, you are done with pull-ups now, too! You’re wearing undies to bed tonight for the first time, because you have had a dry pull-up in the morning now for weeks solid. Avit, you’ll get there, don’t worry. You’ve been having more wet pull-ups and a couple nap accidents even lately, but that’s no big deal. One in undies full time already is fantastic!
Nat, I also took you and Morrison to the doctor today for your eczema “angry patches,” and thankfully, the ointment she prescribed is already helping. They started flaking because I hadn’t put lotion on them since yesterday (which she said makes it worse anyway), so the ointment made that look a little thicker, but it’s already started coming off and I swear they’re getting better already. I hated seeing those awful sores on the backs of your legs, and I know they bothered you terribly.
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August 19, 2021
Another little milestone for you guys – today I switched the sippy cup tops for your drink bottles out for the straw tops to see how you can handle them. The success of this experiment will all depend upon how many times you spill them. Also, I took your booster seats off the dining room table bench yesterday to see if you can sit regularly. So far, so good, although there have been a few more pieces of food on the floor than usual.
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September 6, 2021
Avit, big day for you. Last night you slept in undies for the first time since we switched you into nighttime pull-ups a few months ago. You’ve been keeping your pull-up dry far more often than not, and yesterday you finally said you wanted to try undies at night again. Great job, little one!
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September 27, 2021
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September 29, 2021
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October 27, 2021
BIG NEWS! You two finally moved out of my bedroom and got your own room today! Daddy finished enough of the flooring upstairs to move the big kids up, so I spent all day today rearranging and moving furniture, and, for the very first time, you guys have your very own bedroom! I can’t even tell you how happy this makes me. I will admit, it was very weird going to bed tonight and not having you, Avit, my little bedside buddy curled up on the floor there next to me, but then I fell right to sleep. 😀 And, thankfully, you both did, too. I love you two to the ends of the universe, but almost 4 years sleeping with you was more than enough. 😉
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November 15, 2021
You 2 had your first real dentist appointment today. You’d both been there before – Avit, to have some of your brown stain scraped off a year or so ago (which thankfully disappeared on its own), and Nat, you had to tag along on that visit – but today was the first actual checkup and cleaning for both of you. Nat, you did awesome, as expected; Avit, you kept it together for part of the time, then acted like your usual clown self the rest. I tell you. Thank HEAVENS our hygienist is my friend and has known you two since literally the day I found out I was having twins, or else I might have just left you there.
Avit, your behavior has seriously been atrocious lately. I don’t know if it’s because the big 3, and even usually Nat, never act as ridiculous as you do, or if it’s just because I’m losing all patience in my old age and with 5 kids, but man, oh man. When we’re in public you constantly have to turn “on” and act like a complete fool. Last Friday, Lana’s class and one of the other 3rd grade classes had a very nice presentation at school. It was their firetalking – they had been studying an author, each student wrote a personal narrative about a brief moment in their life (Lana chose Ashlynn’s wedding ceremony and wrote a fantastic piece), then we were invited to come sit with them in the Great Room at school and hear their presentation and all about their stories and writings. Her teacher said it would be great to bring you guys, the more the merrier. You were so embarrassing. You crawled all over the place and onto other families’ blankets; you rolled around on the floor between everyone’s blankets; you stuck your tongue out at me; you wiggled your buns at me; you licked the bottoms of mine and Nat’s shoes; you pretended you were going to eat a pile of crumbled leaves on the floor; and in the middle of the presentation, you stood up, shouted “The end!” and started clapping as loudly as you could. I wanted to abstolutely strangle you. You were 100% “that kid,” and I hate “that kid.” I have never been embarrassed by one of my children before, but you take the cake. It truly made me question whether or not you’ll be able to go to school next year for K4 if that’s how you’re always going to act in public. Fortunately there’s almost a year between now and then, but still. You kind of suck right now. I love you to death, but you also are killing me.
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November 19, 2021
Avit, I forgot an actually funny episode of yours from last week. This is your new thing, much to my chagrin – you go up to someone, say “Want to smell something?” then you toot on them. Disgusting. But this particular day, you said, “Do you smell something? I smell reindeer poop.” I said, “What??” You said, “You know, those little brown poop balls.” You were referring to all the deer poop we saw in the grass around the resort when we were up north a few weeks ago. You are something else, kid.
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December 25, 2021
Merry Christmas, my loves! You guys had such a fun day, and it was so wonderful for me watching your pure joy and excitement as everyone opened their bags to see what Santa left. I know I will certainly never outgrow the magic of Christmas!
