... and babies make four: Our life with twins. : September 2014

14 months! This is an amazing time of change and growth. I swear they learn something new every day and it is so much fun to watch. Riley mirrors everything we do, so much so that sometimes we don’t even realize we are doing something until we see her do it. For example, one day she just started sporadically rubbing her brother’s head. We looked at it as kind of odd at first until both the Hubby and I realized that we frequently rub their heads when we are interacting with them. (Maybe we need to stop that – could be the reason for the lack of hair?!) She has even tried to “wash” his hair in the bathtub.

Neither of them is walking completely on their own yet. For the most part they only take a few steps in between us, prompted and encouraged by us. One time though, Riley pulled herself up on a chair across the room and turned and took a few steps. I was so excited because she did it ALL on her own that I jumped up and down and more than likely scared her and halted the progress. She loves to walk around the house and pushes a toy around everywhere. Landon is a little less confident in his walking and does not do it as often, but enjoys being walked around the house. Landon has one more tooth, so he is up to 8 now. Riley seems to be “stuck” at 6 for the time. Both of them seem to have some molars coming in, or at least I hope that is the result of the never ending crankiness for the last few weeks. The good news, they LOVE to eat! Chicken nuggets, PBJ, macaroni, mixed vegetables, bananas, pancakes… pretty much everything I put in front of them. They are great at drinking milk and we have been BOTTLE FREE for about a month now. It is very nice to not have as many dishes to do each night! We have some new vocabulary words in the house: “ball” (Landon) and “mickey” (Riley). “Uh oh” can still be heard about 10 million times a day as well. We have perfected the “Bye bye” wave and can now do it on demand.

Landon has graduated from physical therapy for the time being. We are still working with him at home and we may need to go back to physical therapy in the future. His Hypotinia can “linger” for a few years so further developments may be a bit delayed or require a little extra work. We will continue to monitor his progress, but I think he is doing great! I loved his last session – he “walked” all over the room with some help. As an extra plus, all of that physical therapy has made him more organized. He puts his toys away and shuts doors – so he either learned it there or he just takes after his mom.

I know you are all dying to know how they did in Disney World – well they did great. They really did seem to enjoy it for the most part. We heard a lot of “OOOO”s as they enjoyed the Winnie the Pooh ride and It’s A Small World. My mom put it best when she told Landon that he was making the trip worthwhile as he stood up and pointed and “ooo”ed during multiple rides. Riley did have one episode of becoming very upset and it appeared to be a direct result of teething. For future reference, you can get infant Tylenol at the first aid stations in Disney World. The lesson learned is to carry Tylenol – it has just never been that major of an issue before that I have carried it around. They did get a tad scared in some of the shows (The Lion King) or dark rides, but they got over it and ended up enjoying it. I was excited to see the Animal Kingdom as I have never been. The safari ride was a lot of fun and ended up putting the babies to sleep. They still managed to get some naps in riding in the stroller and they slept well at night also. I have some favorite memories: Seeing Payton as he got to meet Spiderman, the look on Abrienda’s face as she saw the castle for the first time, and Riley waking up from being dead asleep to dance when she heard the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme song at Disney Junior Live. They loved swimming in the hotel pool, but they especially enjoyed swimming in the ocean and playing in the sand at Daytona Beach. Riley was fearless crawling through the water and sand. Landon was a bit more reluctant and preferred to sit in my lap but still enjoyed it.

Well… you may be able to expect more frequent posts in the future. After much internal and external debate, the Hubby and I concluded that I can resign from my full time position. I am excited to have the opportunity to spend more time with the babies and I have so many plans in my head for our time together. I will keep you updated on our future endeavors – but for now, pictures!