Kate: 13-Months Old

 

Yucky photo, but she hates the camera now. I may take them out later in the week for some better photos.

Weight: A little over 17 lbs. She is wearing size 9 months clothes and size 3 diapers (we moved her up a size this past month). Her shoe size is still a 2-3, but the girl never wears shoes.

Feedings: She is still on Enfamil Next Step Formula. She drinks about 8 oz per bottle. In the mornings after breakfast, I let her have a yogurt/juice drink. She only gets that once a day. We are starting to increase the amount of water Kate drinks; water instead of juice or yogurt. I don’t think she has had any PediLite this month because constipation has not been an issue. Kate is eating table food and Gerber Toddler Graduates food very well, and generally loves to eat. I have drastically decreased the amount of baby food they are eating and increased the about of ‘toddler food’ and table food.

Favorites: Playing with plastic bowls and spoons, the music table, the rare treat of finding something made of paper to eat, eating pizza, her puppy dog (though she hasn’t been into him as much lately), watching our dogs play outside, and sleeping with me.

Least Favorites: Sleeping alone in her crib, containment, having her teeth (okay, tooth) and gums brushed, having her ear drops put in, and having anything taken from her.

Issues: Sleeping through the night (Dear God please!) and sleeping alone. Kate is also very hot and cold when it comes to her interactions with Carson — she is either passive or fiery.

Personality: Now that she is no longer chronically hurting from her ear issues, she is a whole new little girl. She is so happy most of the time, a bit hyper and always looking for new things to explore. I would describe her as fearless, funny, feisty, and flirty.

Areas to Work On: Kate can still not sit unsupported and shows no signs of wanting to. I spoke to our pedi about this and he is giving her until 15 months and then we will talk about therapy. She can crawl, stand, cruise, but cannot sit. That is not normal and concerns me a lot. We are also still practicing with tilting the sippy cup back to drink from it.

New Things: There haven’t been a lot of new things, but she has improved her skills in many areas like crawling, standing, pulling up, cruising the window ledge, and feeding herself. She has also finally started calling me Mama instead of Dada. This just started two days ago. I think her verbal skills are improving based just on listening to her “talk” to herself and Carson. It’s like hearing a conversation in a foreign language with all of the appropriate pauses and inflections.

Comparison: She throws a fit every time she takes a tumble. Carson hardly ever does even when I know that fall must have hurt a little.

Randomness: Kate wants to drink whatever I am drinking. If I have a glass of ice with Diet Coke in it and I start to rattle the ice in the glass, she drops whatever she is doing from anywhere in the house and high-tails it to me for a sip of my drink! It’s Pavolov’s theory in action.

Horrible photo, but it’s the only one I have with her one and only tooth in it!

Happy 13 Months, Babies!

This is not a good photo of the twins. This was post-nap, post-lunch, pre-fight. Kate kept handing me that pink bow and I finally put it in her hair. She was happy after that. Maybe I will take them out Friday and get better photos, but I needed something for their monthly birthday post.

Can I still call them babies or are they toddlers now? I’ve heard some folks say you become a toddler at 1-year and others say it’s 18 months.

One of my blogger friends, Kerry Lynn, once said that your life with twins really changes once they become mobile. Ain’t that the truth! The week before their 1st birthday last month, they both just took off. At first I tried to contain them, but we have an open floorplan in the living room, and that just became impossible. So now I’ve child-proofed as much as possible (though they are always finding new things that I hadn’t thought of), and I’ve set them free. It has been a major life change for me, and definitely more work for me…but they are so cute. I love watching them explore and discover things for the first time.

The past month was rough on us with the double ear surgeries and Kate’s lingering infection. I don’t think I’ve ever been more eager for springtime just to get out of cold season. Being able to get out and about with them again will be good for the soul…especially mine.

Also right around their first birthday came Kate first tooth! Finally! I swear we’ve been dealing with about 7 months of teething, and I am ready for them to arrive. I didn’t think it would take this long. I often find her playing with her new tooth (the 2nd one is popping up right now) with either her own tongue or finger. She doesn’t like to show it to us — my guess is because she associates me sticking my hand in her mouth with me removing paper from her mouth — but we can see it when she laughs or cries. We joke that she looks like a hillbilly with just one little white tooth on the bottom.

Per our pedi’s advice, we started a new bedtime routine. We are putting them to bed while they are still awake and letting them go to sleep on their own. This is a huge change in how we’ve done for the past year. No more tip-toeing up the stairs with a sleeping baby and then tip-toeing back out of the room. Nope. They get a bottle, we take them upstairs, kiss each baby, tell them goodnight, put them in bed at 8 PM (or earlier), and walk out. The most they have fussed is maybe 5 minutes. I can’t believe it!

As a mom, I am trying so hard to enjoy the moment. I’ve always looked down the road for things to look forward to…’I can’t wait until they are old enough to do x, y, and z.’ I am focusing on the here and now because I know it will be over in a flash. I am already forgetting little things that I thought I would never forget…like when did Kate stop chirping in her sleep? when did Carson stop making his hoot owl sounds? when was Kate’s first smile? As much as I blog, I still forget to make note of some things.

The Music-Table-Stare-Down

Carson: 13-Months Old

 

Weight: About 21-22 lbs. He is wearing mostly 18 month old clothes, but some 12 month pants. Carson is wearing size 3 diapers (though they are getting a little snug), and size 3 shoes.

Feedings: Pretty much the same as Kate. He drinks 8 oz of Enfamil Next Step formula. I have been introducing cow’s milk also. At first I had mixed results, but they are slowing getting used to it. I don’t give Carson a juice/yogurt bottle in the morning because he doesn’t like it. He is still all about Ritz Crackers, and is eating a lot more finger foods now.

Favorites: The music table, plastic spoons, playing with ‘found objects’, following Kate around the house, stealing toys from Kate, dancing (well more like swaying back and forth), climbing all over me, and being tickled.

Least Favorites: Drinking from the sippy cup (but he is getting a little better), bedtime, staying in his high chair for too long, car trips over 30 minutes, and having his hair brushed.

Issues: Sleeping through the night without Mark, picky eater, bad medicine taker, learning to be more gentle with Kate, sharing (haha, as if), and uncomfortable in new places.

Personality: Carson has the reputation as being so sweet and angelic. I would stay he is that way the majority of the time, but he also a bit of an aggressor. He still loves to smile, and it’s easy to make him laugh. He likes making Kate laugh too. We all agree that he is shy, uncomfortable and insecure in new places and situations.

Areas to Work On: The meal time battle rages on. I’m not sure if it’s so much that he is picky as much as him seeing it all has a game. We are getting him out of the house more (even on short errands) in an effort the get him more comfortable with new places. Oh, and we also need more practice with drinking from the sippy cup. He knows of to drink from it, but has trouble tilting the cup back to drink because he is so used to laying down to drink.

New Things: Carson is now sitting in our bath tub on his own. This has made bath time so much easier on me. He loves to splash and play with his ducks. He has also greatly improved his hand-eye coordination, and that has resulted in more food actually going into his mouth instead of his shirt.

Comparison: He loves bananas, and she doesn’t. He is more aggressive. He is shy in new surroundings. Carson doesn’t like to cuddle with me, only Mark.

Randomness: We have been debating on if we should get the top of his hair cut for the first time. We (along with Miss Jennifer) have started calling him Kramer because of his wild hair.