Happy Christmas

Merry Christmas from the Fiegel 5.

This Christmas was fun, because it was the first one the Colin and Veronica really got into. I think Veronica “got it” more than Colin — he’s still too into the moment to get caught up in the anticipation like she does. 

Throughout Advent, we did a family activity every night as part of our new Advent calendar (okay, we did end up skipping a few of the activities — no matter how carefully I planned it, a few things just didn’t work out). That worked out well because it helped us get in most of the fun Christmas-related things that often end up getting missed. Our calendar included things like “eat a candy cane” or “decorate and eat a cookie for dessert” or “go for a neighborhood lights walk.” 

I also had the kids write letters to Santa one night, which was very helpful when it came to getting presents. Veronica’s list included such items as “a purple car” and “candy (not crunchy),” while Colin’s include “a car,” “a motorcycle” and “crunchy candy.” And Santa did his best to make their wishes come true. 

Veronica’s favorite gifts, hands down, were the dolls. She got a Cabbage Patch doll — Gigi — from my parents (well, two, if you count Colin’s — Carl — which she immediately appropriated) and one that was a bit more in the style of an American Girl doll — Cassie — from us. In second place would probably be the absolutely wonderful campfire set my sister made the twins for playing camping (which they do nearly every day) and the food my mom knit to go with it. 

Veronica sitting next to Cassie. “She a big kid.
Not a baby like my other babies.”

Colin’s favorite gifts were the matchbox cars Ethan gave him (well, actually he preferred the cars Ethan gave Veronica, so while she was taking Carl, he was taking those) and the motorcycle Santa brought. In fact, he liked the motorcycle so much Veronica immediately wanted one too. (That didn’t go well … silly Santa, you always should bring two of everything.) Since Christmas, though, I think the campfire may have moved into first place. Colin has been cooking over that campfire for several meals a day. 

Colin with one of his new cars. “Look. A boat on top.”

Unfortunately, we ended up canceling our trip to Wisconsin to see John’s family on Christmas Day. I think we had packed just a little too much “go” into the previous few days. We ended up on Christmas with two crabby little kids and one crabby (and it turns out, sick) big kid. We didn’t want to spend a total of three hours trapped in the car with them in that state, so we ended up staying home. That was a bummer (and Veronica screamed in anger for a good hour after we told her we weren’t going), but I think it ended up being better to let everyone sleep and unwind. 

Pretty nails

We have been promising Veronica since summer that if she stopped chewing her fingernails, we would paint them for her. She has been obsessed with having painted nails ever since I got a mani-pedi around this time last year. And while I still believe that in general, two years old is too young to have painted nails, I completely see the bribery value in being flexible on this one. 

So on Friday before bed, after a week of promises, we painted Veronica’s fingernails. (Colin was not allowed to get his nails painted because he, unfortunately, has picked up Veronica’s nail biting habit — he’ll get his manicure when he can go a week without chewing). And she is thrilled.

It’s very funny to watch — periodically, in the middle of play, she’ll pause for a minute to admire her nails. And the first thing she does when encountering someone new is to show them her pretty red nails. She really wanted purple nails, but the purple polish our neighbor bought for her had dried out … so she was stuck with red. 

However, capitalizing on the bribe factor, I did promise her that when she goes a whole day without going potty in her diaper or pull-up, I will go buy her purple nail polish. Her response: “And pink too!” And so, we have ourselves a deal.

On a completely unrelated note, we are starting to suspect that Colin might be lactose intolerant. He has been suffering from some intestinal distress (as in completely liquid poops) for about a week and a half. Because he wasn’t getting dehydrated or showing signs of distress (except when he was a mess), his doctor wasn’t concerned, saying it was probably a lingering virus, which I also suspected. 

But as the one who was blessed with at least half of the cleanup, I was getting desperate. So we decided to eliminate everything from his diet that might be irritating his intestines from his diet. He already gets a probiotic every morning, but we started giving him a second dose in the evening. Then we took away all dairy, citrus and sugar. And was added lots of rice, bananas and blackberries. And after several days, he started to get better.

So after a few days, we started adding in cheese — no problems. Sugar — still did okay. Milk — oh crap (literally). So we went back to the soy milk (which he quite likes), and he has been okay again. We’re going to wait a full week this time before we try the milk again. And if the problem returns, we’ll be seeing the doctor for a test. 

Waiting for Christmas

The twins are old enough this year to start to understand Christmas, both its religious and its secular aspects. And they are very excited. We’ve been able, miraculously, to fit in a good number of special activities this year to help us get into the spirit (hard to do with the temperatures hovering in the 50s most of the time — my parsley is growing in the garden again).

This year, I decided that I wanted to make an activity-based Advent calendar for our family, rather than just having the “open the doors and eat a chocolate” calendar. (Don’t worry, we have that one too.) Our activities have ranged from buying a gift for a child who wouldn’t otherwise get any presents (Day 1) to listening to Christmas music at dinner or going for a neighborhood light walk after dinner. 

It’s a fun way to start the day: The kids get up and everyone runs to the fireplace, where our “calendar” hangs. Then Ethan reads what we’re going to do that night. We’re behind on a few (sorry, I didn’t realize they only turn the Zoo Lights on Friday through Sunday — we’ll either get caught up tonight or next Friday), but we’re doing pretty good at keeping up, really. 

We kicked off the season by taking the Santa Train up to Lincoln Square for dinner. It was crazy crowded (as it always is, since they run it at rush hour), but the kids had a blast. Veronica has been telling us that she wants to do it again. We also wrote letters to Santa (a first for us this year) and decorated gingerbread houses, which was really a lot of fun.

So pop over to the Photos 2 page. I’ve uploaded a bunch of pictures for you to see.

Big kids

Veronica has long been obsessed with the idea of being a big kid. For the longest time, if we called her a girl, she would reply, “I not a girl. I a big kid.” Now she understands that she can be both, but she is very proud of not being a baby any longer. 

Colin has just come to the big kid party recently, but now he often joins in the chorus, informing us that “Colin a big kid, Mommy” at random times throughout the day. He too is becoming more self aware, and realizes that being a big kid comes with privileges that babies and little kids don’t get. 

Veronica now is taking it one step farther: she has become aware of the size difference between her and Colin (and, to be honest, probably the developmental difference too, since she is further along the path than him in many areas). The other day, when they were out walking, Ethan was “balance walking” along something that John didn’t think the twins were ready to tackle. He told Veronica it was okay for Ethan to do because Ethan was bigger. Veronica promptly said, “I’m bigger than Colin, so I do it too.” 

So now we have to be careful to make the distinction that Ethan gets to do things because he is older, not because he is bigger.

Veronica already treats Colin like her little brother, mothering him and yelling at him when he is doing something wrong. (“Time out Colin. Time out!” “Clean up toys Colin. Clean up.”) That’s more a function of her natural bossiness, a trait she shares with Ethan (poor Colin, he has four people bossing him around every day), but we want to be sure she realizes that she and Colin are the same age. Otherwise, I am sure that will cause problems down the road. 

“Normal” and other labels

Colin had is annual review for Early Intervention yesterday, in which we sit down with his coordinator and all his therapists (a dwindling number, thank God) and determine how much progress he has made and what services he still needs and qualifies for. This will be his last annual review because on his 3rd birthday he no longer qualifies for Early Intervention services and would move to getting services through the school district if he still qualified. 

Fortunately, it doesn’t look like Colin will still need services by his 3rd birthday. Colin is rapidly approaching the point where he will be labeled as “normal.” Already, the medical, therapeutic, educational professionals have stopped labeling him as a “preemie” and adjusting his age, despite the fact that in many ways he still functions at a level that is more in line with when he was supposed to be born, rather than when he actually arrived. But within the 12-month range of skills that comprises age 2, he is “normal” in nearly every way — at or ahead of where he should be for his age. The only exceptions are weight and height (he qualifies as “mildly malnourished” on the charts for his weight, which means he continues to qualify for his monthly nutritionist visits) and his gross motor skills, for which he continues to receive physical therapy. 

For Colin, “normal” is a label we’ve been hoping for since before his birth. It’s a good label, and one we weren’t always sure we would achieve. And while he will likely continue to receive nutrition and physical therapy for the time being, we all are now confident that he will no longer need services after he turns three. We are lucky. I know many parents whose children were born under the same circumstances as Colin and Veronica never get that happy label of normal for their kids. 

Happy as we are about both twins being “normal” developmentally, it’s not really a label we think much about at home. But we do have lots of other labels for both kids, some good and some not. 

Veronica often is labeled as a “girly girl” and she most certainly is a “drama queen.” But those labels ignore the fact that she’s also very athletic and smart. Her athleticism recently earned her the nickname of “Rocket” because she can throw a ball all the way across the room. (Really, the girl has an arm.)

Veronica loves to pick out her outfits, and basks in the compliments they inevitable garner, since people love to talk to little girls about their clothes, but she also revels in her power. On Saturday, when we were grocery shopping, I turned around just in time to realize that she was shot putting the cans I was handing her into the shopping cart, rather than dropping them over the side. Pretty impressive, except for the fact that Colin was sitting inches away, and there were something like 10,000 people in the store. (Reminder to self: Never, ever, ever go grocery shopping on a Saturday afternoon. Really.)

Colin is mischievous, curious, lives in the moment and is strangely afflicted with deafness whenever we ask him to stop doing something. He likes to beat up on his brother and sister (often inappropriately so), but he also adores being “mothered” by his sister. “Read to me Roni,” he asks routinely. And the twins will retire to the cushion on the floor where Colin will snuggle next to Veronica while she “reads” him a story.

I love it when they actually interact with each other like that. Or when they hold hands and walk down the aisles at the grocery store, showing each other interesting things. When they fight over toys and compete for my attention … well that’s not quite so fun. 

Visual update

I have been a very delinquent blogger — I can’t believe it’s been five weeks since I last posted an update. In my defense, life has been very busy. But then again, it has been since the twins arrived. I guess I’ve just been lazy. 

So here, in a pictorial nutshell, is what we’ve been up to since late October.

We’ve discovered playing dress up …

And wearing dresses.

We fell in love with Elmo … 

And Halloween turned us into little monkeys (who spent a lot of time jumping on the bed).

We hunted for the perfect pumpkin …

And got our hair cut at the salon for the first time.

Showing off the new 'doos.
Notice the hairband and the bow in Roni's hair 

We became obsessed with camping and day camping (hiking) …

At the North Park Nature Center.

And all got new boots so we could keep doing it throughout the fall. 

We love attacking big brother (who generally enjoys being attacked) …

And goofing around with Mom for the camera. 

We continue to struggle with sleeping — especially Veronica — and to grow. Colin is now up to the 10th percentile for both height and weight, and Veronica is in the 50th percentile for height (I haven't tracked her weight on the charts) and is now even wearing some 3T clothes. 

Veronica is a fashionista, who often now insists that we photograph her outfit of the day to share with Grandma and Grandpa. But she is also quite the athlete, and has been seen imitating the warmups of the college basketball players while watching them on TV. She’s also very interested in soccer and playing catch, and has a good arm and a good leg. These interests join her obsession with biking (it really is an obsession), her constant desire to go running (she wants to do a race with Mommy in the spring), her love of swimming (still a little fish, most days) and her daily requests to go camping or day camping (what we call hiking). 

Colin still likes to tackle and hit his way out of frustration, but is starting to do a better job of using his growing vocabulary. If he is in the right mood, he can identify most of his letters and numbers correctly, and continues to show a strong engineering inclination. He is also the child with the most cat-like curiosity (as in “curiosity killed the cat”), and we constantly have to remember how tall he is getting and find new places to stash potentially dangerous items.