We've had a weird month with sizes. After being in size 4 diapers for I don't know how long, Sam is in size 5 while Anna's in size 3 right now. Size 3 you're probably wondering? Well, that's because we actually got mistakenly sent a box of 222 size 3 diapers from Amazon (for free). Technically, she still fits into the weight range for them, so we've been using them for daytime only. And they work. We sized up to 5 for Sam because he was started to have a few blowouts at daycare and some leaks in the morning. They look huge on him, but are working to decrease the need for clothing changes. Sam has more 24 month/2 T shirts and I weeded out more of the 18 month tops. 24 month pants are mostly still too long though. Anna is still in 18 month stuff, some 18-24 month clothing... and 4 onesies that are sized 9-12 months. My 22 month old toddler wears onesies that are sized 9-12 months (and some 18 month ones). Weird.
Woah baby, the next stage in verbal explosion has hit. My sweeties are having conversations with us now. They often use sentences to answer our questions, make requests or tell us things. Somewhere along the line the phrase "Woah baby!" was uttered and it stuck. We hear it all the time now and I personally think it is cute. I think we are at the point where their sign knowledge is decreasing, because they communicate so well with us with verbally spoken words. In the past Anna would pretend talk on the phone and say "Hi Grandma, Bye." Now she will have a whole pretend conversation with whomever "called," punctuated with fake laughter at what the caller must have said. I am continually amazes at the word meaning they pick up- for instance, Anna knows that "rotate" means to turn and will say the word herself when she needs to turn a puzzle piece to get it to fit. Sam joins in while we sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star or say our prayers at night. Both Sam and Anna will often sing the next letter of the alphabet song if I pause while singing.
Both Sam and Anna identify and name all 11 colors often, although white and black are the least consistent. Sam's favorite color continues to be yellow. They can identify and name the shapes circle, star, heart, triangle, and diamond often as well. They are beginning to name squares and rectangles. I don't think letter identification has changed much in the last month or so, but it is hard to tell when you are thinking about 52 letters for two kids. I would say they more easily know the lowercase letters now than before. We are getting better at counting and can count objects up to 4. Both Sam and Anna understand a quantity of 1 or 2 things.
We had a little hiccup in the playing department this month with the influx of new toys- more sibling fighting and I-want-what-they-have scuffles. That's starting to get better as the new stuff is less new. Favorites right now are definitely the wheelie ramp and dollhouse, kitchen and tea set, shopping cart, pirate ship, and new playdoh tools. And of course, the Cookie Monsters (we got one plush Cookie Monster and one Elmo for Christmas, and it was an all out brawl. This was one toy I caved on and went to buy a second so they could actually play with them. The stores I checked were all out of Elmo, but I was able to get a second Cookie Monster. So Elmo is put away until we can get a double.)With our new storage bins, Sam is getting a new found interest in dumping stuff out, although they continue to be excellent clean-uppers.
Anna still loves Duck and Goose books by Tad Hills and the How do Dinosaurs...? books by Mark Teague. She also requests The Napping House by Don and Audrey Wood a lot. One of Sam's current faves is Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle and still the Deer non-fiction book I talked about before.
We've recovered from the separation anxiety stage that Sam went through a bit ago and his Bap Bap lovies don't need to be brought in to daycare anymore. However, Daddy is going on two work trips in the next two weeks, so I wouldn't be surprised if more issues resurface before next month. Anna still uses her pacifier when she's in her crib sleeping only... we are being pushovers and honestly haven't attempted to take it away since August. I just haven't been in the mood to throw a wrench into how they sleep- I like a good night's sleep too much (for them and us).
Large motor skills have grown a little bit- in one month Sam went from struggling to get up on our high bed but finally doing it on his own to scaling that height in seconds. He's almost able to climb into his crib from the outside- but I haven't let him keep trying long enough to see if he could successfully do it. Thanks to sleep sacks, I have no worries that either one will be climbing out once they're in anytime soon. Ann's started to do a funny walk on purpose when she's in a silly mood. It is hard to describe, but she hunches over and bends her arms and kind of waddles like a duck; it's just hilarious. Sam's really into making himself "dizzy" by turning in circles or walking around something in a circle lately. He is still a sway-er while dancing, while Anna has started to have more complex dance moves by moving body parts more independently while dancing instead of just bouncing up and down.
We've been pretty impressed with their fine motor skills lately. Anna can put on her own coat and is getting close to being able to put on her own pants and pull them up. She very adamantly wants to do it herself every time so she gets lots of practice, while Sam could care less. They both put their boots on on their own, even if sometimes they are on the wrong feet (but I still have kindergartners who do that). The puzzles we have (most that say for 2+) are getting too easy for them. They can match up single puzzle pieces with the picture in seconds ("rotate!") even on the newer puzzles they just got for Christmas. I am going to have to get more multiple piece puzzles for our home collection. Our daycare provider says that both of them like to do 4-6 piece puzzles at daycare.
Sleep wise things have been the same for a while now, except for periods of teething or illness. Sam and Anna have been slowly getting back to not falling asleep very quickly though. Within the last few weeks we've had more talking (lots of Elmo and applesauce being said) and singing and minor fussing before it is quiet.
The signs for potty training are becoming more and more apparent for both Sam and Anna. In addtion to what I've shared before, Sam has several times tried to go on purpose in his diaper (like when I'm in the bathroom and I ask him if he has to poop and then he strains and produces something). Anna sat on the little chair meant for the Little People pirates and pretended to use it as a potty chair... although we have none in our house. I might actually break down and get two chairs for their 2nd birthday, although I did not want to attempt potty training until the summer.
In the past month we had a little trouble in the bath department. Sam would a piece of lint in the water (most likely from between their toes from socks), and flip out, thinking it was poop. (We did have a stage of code browns lately in the tub before this.) We'd try to show him it was link, but he'd want out asap. Then Anna would start to flip out, scream and want out because of Sam's carrying on. We'd be able to calm Sam down, but not Anna. It made bathtime pretty stressful some days. We started bathing them separately to avoid the mass chaos from bath freak outs, and it helped. Now we're back to bathing both together and it is going better. Hopefully that stage is past for now.
More canine teeth have shown up this month. Anna has both of her top canines, making her total teeth count 14 (missing bottom two canines). Sam has both bottom canines now and a bump close to erupting on the top for one canine (still missing one bottom incisior) making his total teeth count 13.
Sam and Anna have become a little more challenging at mealtimes this month. Every meal is a new adventure with our two toddlers. Sam's latest drama is over milk sippies- sometimes it's the color of the cup, or that he wants to drink without the sippy top and sometimes we can't figure out what his problem is with his milk. It's always a nice and welcome surprise when there's no drama
and they eat well. Our old standby food pouches are starting to lose their luster, although Anna will still eat them poured on a spoon. Food faves include most pastas with red sauce or lemony-butter sauce or cheesy sauce, pizza for Sam, soup for Anna and blueberries for both. At least my kids still love veggies, even if they aren't full of calories for them!
The best part of twins is how they interact with each other. Anna has her own nickname for Sam- "B." It's cute to hear her call him that and respond. It makes me wonder how long that will last and if when they are in high school she'll still be calling him "B." We wonder if that's because she hears us say "he" when referring to him, or maybe because his baby nickname was Little Bean? He was "Baby B" after all, so it is fitting. Maybe she's just putting him in his place because she's reminding him that she was "Baby A!" The other day Sam was upset because he wanted his milk, and Anna told him "B, milk over there" while pointing. It made me smile to hear her try to help solve his problem. They always get things for each other and help put things away for the other one. Watching them play together, laugh together, dance together and give kisses and hugs unprompted- you just can't beat it!
I cannot believe we are so close to having 2 year olds already!
