Wow - big week over here! Will started preschool {more on that in another post}, and on Sept. 2nd, our sweet and feisty girls turned 18 months old! So we officially have a 3 1/2 year old and two 1 1/2 year olds! It's triple crazy around this house!
I realized the other day that I haven't attempted to take any monthly pictures since the girls turned a year old. Probably because trying to get them to sit for pics is like herding cats, and I was so happy that we made it to a year with all 12 months documented that I called it a day and stopped with the monthly pictures. BUT, I thought 18 months deserved some memories, so we got dressed up, geared up, found something for Will to do....and....
OH the drama.
I think it started with a shoe disagreement, and everything went downhill from there. Forgetting for a second that they are deathly afraid of grass, I decided maybe we should head outside for a change of scenery.
Why, mama? Why would you sit me in GRASS?!
These girls were just not having it. At one point, I thought this would be the closest I'd get to a smile.
So we took a break. Clearly forcing the issue wasn't working, so we played for about an hour and just like that, they snapped out of their funks and became absolutely delightful! They were running through the house shrieking in delight. {This is actually a pretty perfect description of the girls at 18 months. They can swing from really loud and dramatically mad to delightfully happy....probably a bit of insight into the teenage years with twin girls.}
So here are Miss Caroline's happy pics:
told ya...shrieking!
And sweet Emily:
They were feeding off each other with the shrieking...it was hilarious!
Sorry for the picture overload! As I mentioned, photo shoots don't happen super frequently, so I had to document it well. :) There are lots of things I want to remember about Caroline and Emily at 18 months. First, they have been growing like weeds! We have always called them our perpetual newborns, because we truly did get an extra 2 months of newborn-ness, and then they were late walkers, and clearly they are not above the curve in hair growth... But all of the sudden in the last 3 months, our little newborns became tall, walking, talking girls! We went to visit Dr. Denison today, and here are their stats:
Emily
Height: 32 1/4 inches {70%}
Weight: 22 lbs, 11 oz {30%}
Head: 18 3/4 inches {75%}
Caroline
Height: 32 inches {60%}
Weight: 23 lbs {35%}
Head: 19 1/4 inches {93%}
The percentages aren't adjusted for prematurity...so they really and truly have caught up! They are on track with their developmental milestones, and we are just so happy to have two healthy, thriving girls.
The girls started taking steps several months ago, but they really took off with walking right at 17 months. It is hilarious to see their little selves toddling all around the house, and they are so happy to be able to go wherever they want!
At 18 months, Caroline and Emily have lots of words! It was like everything just clicked one day, probably about a month ago, and suddenly they were repeating everything and using words to communicate! LOVE.IT. Just a few of their favorites that they actually tie to the correct meaning: mama, dada, bubba {
for Will or brother}, Mimi, Duke, Nana {
for their Nana or a banana}, duck, up, bye, yes {
pronounced hesssssss}, Emmie {
Emily}, Liiine {
for Caroline...so cute}, ba {
bath}, eat, peas {
please}, uh-uh {
nope, not gonna do it}, nack {
snack}, cacka {
cracker, a fave}, gape {
grape}, beh {
bread}, beep beep, good girl {
which they say to compliment themselves on a job well done}, poop {
yep, poop}, bow, ball, & hot. I know there are lots that I'm forgetting, and sorry for boring anyone who is reading this by listing words, but at this point, this blog is the closest thing my babies have to a baby book! ;)
One thing that I am amazed they haven't started saying is "bunny," because they are absolutely attached to their little ballerina bunny dolls that they got in their Easter baskets last year. If I had ONLY known these little bunnies would become so important to them, I would have bought a hundred! Of course, they're impossible to buy now, so I'm just hoping that the Carter's line at Target will include more bunny ballerinas next Easter. The girls are so adorable with their bunnies...they lay their little heads on them to show their love, and they want to bring them everywhere. I have to strategically distract them long enough to grab the bunnies and throw them in the washing machine, making sure I have enough time to dry them before the next nap or bedtime. Will was never attached to a stuffed animal, so this is new to me, and so sweet! They are also still attached to their pacis. After their first dentist visit, we've been working on reducing paci time to nap and bedtime only. The ironic part is that about a week before their dentist visit, they really only wanted the pacis at those times, but for some reason they got much more attached to them right before we started trying to use them less. And of course, now that they can walk around on their own, they will go back to their room and find hidden pacis. Sneaky!
The girls are still good sleepers, except for the occasional night terror. {
these are also new to me, and whew! not fun.} Caroline has them more often than Emily, and they usually last about 15 minutes. During this time, they are screaming and super upset, but totally asleep and unwakeable. It's such a scary feeling not to be able to wake your child up, but now that we've talked to the doctor and know that it's nothing to worry about, we just hold the girls and wait for it to pass. Actually, the nurses have told me I can just leave them alone during the terror because they won't remember anything and will stay asleep...but ummm, no way. They usually do wake up in the end, and they are always completely fine, not upset or distressed, and ready to go back to bed. It's crazy, and I can't wait until they grow out of them!
As I've mentioned before, our sweet babies are sort of perpetually in a "stranger danger" phase. So far we've had about...oh....18 months of this "phase." I'm holding out hope that once they can really talk and understand everything, they will start loving people a bit more. Will was also pretty cautious of everyone during his first 2 years, and now he loves people. The difference between Will's stranger anxiety and the girls' is that Will was one baby. So, you know, if he got nervous, I'd just hold him. No problem. Most people in public had no idea that he was regarding them as a villain....because he was comfortably in my arms. No need to scream. With the ladies, however, it's a different story. Because unfortunately, I still have only 2 arms. Soooo....there is no flying under the radar. When they get uncomfortable, they scream. And they are
way loud. For example...when we went to drop Will off at preschool this morning, we had to ride the elevator one floor up from the parking garage. So we got on with some friendly families, also going to preschool. The girls, in their stroller, immediately became the center of attention, because they are identical twins. And as soon as the doors closed, they started screaming at full volume X 2 with absolute terror in their eyes. All the sweet people looked at me with such fear {
it was really loud}....and they couldn't even hear my feeble attempts to say, "oh, sorry, they're a little afraid of people right now," because of all.the.screaming. I love my girls, and they are the sweetest EVER to me...but they do absolutely challenge me on some of the simple logistics of everyday life. It will be so fun when they start to feel comfortable enough to let more people see their adorable personalities!
Caroline and Emily's other favorite activities at 18 months are playing in their stroller, sitting on the step in our living room and kicking their feet, playing with the buckles on their high chairs, putting toys into purses or baskets, playing in laundry {
most specifically Will's underwear?!}, jumping on the trampoline, and jumping in the bounce house. The bounce house is a little bit death-defying, because Will is in there jumping, and I am always sitting inside to try to keep anyone from being squished or breaking any bones. But they LOVE it...and it's one of the few things we can all do together that everyone {
maybe except me} enjoys. So we bounce!
looking for daddy
I feel like their hair growth should be noted. They both just started really getting hair in the past couple of months. And much like everything else, they are growing it completely differently! Caroline has more hair, and it lays down on her head, while Emily has these sweet little feathery spikes that absolutely never lay down. LOVE.
Oh sweet baby girls. You are so loved, and I can see your sweet, kind, funny, and compassionate personalities shining through every day. It is a little bittersweet to see you leave the baby stage, but I can only imagine how much fun we're going to have together as you grow up.
{You are my sunshines!}
