... and babies make four: Our life with twins. : 1.5 years

It has been an eventful 18 months and it has flown by! I can hardly believe these amazing little people have been in my life for a year and a half. (By the way I have been telling everyone that they are a year and a half old, not 18 months. I am done with the “month thing.”)

There have been a lot of changes in their development just in the past month. A lot of new words and “tricks” and laughs and smiles. We have officially moved to the 18 month clothes – they are way too big on them, but the 12 month clothes were looking too small. We also had to move the straps in the car seats as they are finally getting a bit taller! They loved their Christmas and all the presents they received. Santa brought Riley her first baby doll, well at least he thought he was bringing it for Riley. It has become one of Landon’s favorites. I ask Landon where his “baby” is and he will repeat “baby” back to me, grab it, hug it, and give it a kiss. He will then proceed to drop it in the bucket of Duplos, or throw it on the ground, or stick it in the oven for his kitchen, but hey he hugged it first right?! They love to play with cars and make “vroom” noises as they roll them around on the floor. Puzzles are a new favorite and stacking blocks. They like to color and do other simple art projects I find on Pinterest. We have been working on using spoons and feeding ourselves and they seem to really enjoy doing that. Landon struggles a bit, but he is improving. They love being able to drink out of straws and smoothies are a favorite for both. We have moved most of the toys to the basement and they seem to enjoy the bigger space and having their own space to play.

Riley’s latest “trick”, which is so much fun, is that she will not stay still to have her diaper changed or her clothes put on. She will run out of the room with one sock on and it becomes an adventure to say the least. She is independent and adventurous, loves to climb on anything and everything. She will also eat anything and makes every attempt she can to get the food off her brother’s high chair as well. Earlier this week, she ran down the hall with a toy making a two syllable “noise” She gave the toy to Landon and came running back to me. Riley’s newest word is “Landon” and it makes my heart melt. She loves to read “boo”s and will climb into your lap with a book about 50 times a day. She very rarely sits still and likes to play with all of her toys in a matter of minutes. She has an infectious smile and once she has figured out how to make you laugh she will do it over and over again. She loves to have her belly tickled and then she will tickle you as well – along with the appropriate “tick tick tick” noise. Riley loves to dance and will start bobbing her head back and forth before I even hear the music. She is still using a pacifier, but we are working on that one. She will put them back in her bed if you ask, but sometimes we are asking her to do that about 100 times a day because she keeps getting them back out. She has at least 10 teeth now (she bites, so I am not sticking my finger in) and I want to get rid of the pacifier before it starts affecting her teeth.

Landon (Bless his heart) had the joy of getting five teeth at one time last week. Needless to say he was a bit of a beast for a few days, but he is a whole lot closer to that total of 20 teeth now. Landon loves to wear “ha” s (someday my children will pronounce the last letter of words) and is now able to actually get them on his head by himself. Landon loves to race cars around on the floor and make “beep” noises. He likes to play with the dishes and their kitchen, roll balls down the slide, and throw balls at mommy’s face. He has become a picky eater lately and I am not happy about it because I don’t feel like he is getting enough nutrients. I still do have some concerns with his hypotonia and I am going to ask the doctor at his appointment at the end of the month. He still has a bit of a head/neck lag when he is laying down or sitting up. He still needs some core strengthening as well so we have been trying to work with him. Other than that, you would not notice any “issues.” He runs up and down the hall with Riley. He loves to make her laugh and will even attempt to comfort her when she is upset by patting her back.

Happy New Year!

They both have infectious smiles and laughs. I love to make them giggle. I especially love hearing them laugh together from another room – unless it means they are doing something “wrong,” like feeding the dogs an entire box of peanut butter crackers. It was actually hard not to laugh with them on this one though.