As Sam and Anna grow older, I am discovering more and more how fascinated I am with their language development.
In the last few weeks, Sam has really mastered the use of the words there, this, that, etc. we hear a lot of "I want this" or "What is that?" although this, that and there are used in multiple contexts. It also feels like they are at a stage where they are learning a hundred words a day. It seems like a word only has to be said to them a few times and they've got it. For example, we pass a water fountain on the highway on the way home from daycare. After asking "What's that water?" once and being reminded one other time, Sam now loves to point out "Water fountain over there!" every time we drive past. It is the same way with the two water towers near our exit off the highway. I asked him once if he knew what was inside the water tower, and he replied "water" (although I think he was just repeating the word water at the time)... so I of course praised him for good thinking after telling him he was right and he hasn't forgotten. Now it's an exclamation of "Two water towers! Water in there!" every time we drive by. This week I took it one step further and told Sam and Anna that the word on the white water tower says _____, because it is the name of our town. So I told them that _____ is where we live and now, when I ask either Sam or Anna, "Where do you live?" both can reply _____ more often than not.
Anna's defining language characteristic right now is her order giving. She's certainly come to the realization that if she communicates what she wants you to do well enough, she can often get what she wants. Unfortunately, her frequent "Walk away!" complete with finger pointing much of the time makes her seem quite bossy and rude, so we're working on getting her to include "please" with her favorite phrase 100% of the time. But really, when she's saying "Walk away!" it could mean a whole host of things- 1.) please stop so I can try to do it myself 2.) I want you to leave me alone 3.) I don't want to play with what you are playing 3.) I am worried you are gong to take what I have 5.) if you are with me, I am directing you where I want to go with you 6.) I think you should be somewhere else doing something else- like if it is dinner time and she wants us to be making dinner or if she wants to play with us and she wants us to do something specific in her pretend play, like go grocery shopping with the play carts, or take a pretend nap (a top favorite pretend play activity).
Another cute language story: I've been practicing getting both Sam and Anna to say their first and last name when asked "What is your name?" and they have been doing pretty well. (We usually practice stuff like this while driving somewhere stuck in carseats.) One day this week, Anna decided to say "Mama (last name)! Daddy (last name)!" after saying her full name. And again, I told her that she was right then praised her for good thinking, and that we do have the same last name as her and Sam. Then Sam piped in Bella (last name)! Bella is our dog... so they are definitely making connections between being part of our family and what that means! They found it amazing (like eyes and mouths wide open amazing) when I told them their Grandpa Dan, Grandma Joanne and Aunts Lindsay and Mary also had the same last name.
I also think it is interesting how the same word can come out so differently between the two of my same-age children. While generally Anna has better pronunciation and definitely a better signing vocabulary (she has a much better body awareness and can pick up new signs very quickly after watching and practicing only a few times), Sam is much more vocal in playing with language and repeating things. Sam's vocal "orange" has a definite /j/ sound at the end... or sometimes a /sh/. Anna's has a Hebrew /ch/ sound at the end making it come out /oranch/- such a funny harsh guttural sound coming out of a little peanut!
Showing posts with label developmental changes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label developmental changes. Show all posts
Friday, April 13, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
2 Years Old
Sam and Anna already 2 years old- woah. It hardly seems like 2 years ago they were born, and yet, it seems like they have been a part of our family for forever. We're definitely reached the point where we can't imagine what we did every weekend before they were born, but life must have been certainly more boring.
Size wise, Anna's back in size 4 diapers after running out of our box of free size 3s. Sam is wearing size 5 diapers (yup, still not attempting that potty training stuff and won't be for a while although two potty chairs sit our basement). Both Sam and Anna are wearing almost all 24 month/2T things, although they are in that in between stage when the size down looks too small and yet the size up is sometimes too big. I can't wait for warmer weather to stay and have them live in shorts and Ts every day when the length of the sleeves and legs don't matter.
Sam and Anna are talking in almost all complete sentences or long phrases of 3-5 words. It is so easy to communicate with them now. Sam likes to report the day's events from daycare, like what they ate for lunch, what they played with, and he even told me last week that he had a "poopy diaper at nap time" when I noticed he was wearing different clothes than he was in the morning. Their vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds too- it seems like every day, they utter a new word in appropriate context that I've never heard from their mouths before. Both Sam and Anna say "Moot!" when they want somebody to move... which I think is pretty darn cute. They are also doing more labeling of adjectives before nouns unprompted, like pointing out a "red truck" passing us (minor truck obsession on car rides going on right now), or telling us that the milk jug they are helping carry is "heavy milk." Along with a greater memory for their increase vocabulary came requests for specific food at mealtimes. It is rare we get through a meal without requests for "cheese please (Parmesan cheese)" or "Ketchup" or "yogurt (from Sam)." In the past, Sam and Anna were able to often say the next letter in the alphabet song if we pause, and now they are able to sing several letters in order on their own. Sam started called Anna "Annabel" more frequently (because a new child at daycare calls her that as well), while Anna calls Sam now about 50% of the time "Sam" and 50% "B" She's also calling herself Anna less and using I, me, and mine more often.
As they have for months both Sam and Anna know all 11 colors... but lately Anna has taken to calling everything pink (because it's her favorite color or because she wants it to be pink). When we call her on her mistake, she almost always tells us the correct color the second time, so I know she still remembers them. Sam's favorite color is probably blue right now. At 22 months Sam and Anna knew circle, star, triangle, heart and diamond... now they are getting a good handle on rectangle and square as well. Sam and Anna have counted objects to around 5, they can recite numbers (oral counting) to about 10 and they have a good understanding of what 1, 2 and 3 means when asked how many are in a set of objects. We are working on representing the numbers 1, 2, and 3 with fingers and Anna especially has been really catching on. Anna can identify the number 2 in print (although I don't know if they can identify more than that). Letter and sound identification is about the same, but they are beginning to remember the way the letters look in their names... i.e. recognize their name in print.
It may be partly because of their size (which at this point I don't think is that much smaller than average) but it seems like everywhere we go, people are commenting on how advanced they are. Neither one is shy in a public setting. Anna likes to tell people "Bye- thank you!" to random strangers- whether they held the door open for us, checked us out, or told us a compliment. They do so well out in public (most of the time), that I thank my lucky stars and hope it continues so that taking both of them out and about isn't a headache. Going out to eat has never been a problem, and rarely do we have issues in stores. Sam and Anna willingly leave the playground and children's museum when we say it is time to go. I am thankful for two very obedient children when we go places.
Pretend play continues to be a big hit. Anna's dollhouse from Christmas is probably the top hit tied with our kitchen. Mega Blocks and Little People are also daily faves. Sam and Anna love to color, use playdoh and paint. We try to paint once a week on the weekends- so far we've finger painted, painted with tubes, marbles, paintbrushes, shaving cream and peppers. Sam asks to paint often, but it just isn't something we can tackle on weeknights once we are home from daycare. Sam and Anna rotate pretty well between what we have to play with, and I can't really think of many toys still out that aren't played with much anymore.
Over the winter we received several Elmo books as gifts, and they are daily requested reads, especially Elmo Loves Hugs. Good Night Gorilla is making a resurgence in the book department for Anna as well. Sam particularly likes our small collection of Hands Are Not for Hitting, Teeth Are Not for Biting and Tails Are Not for Pulling... which is good, because he needs the messages reinforced more than Anna does!
Sleep wise, Sam and Anna have been in a small rut of taking longer to go to sleep at night. I'm thinking they need less overall sleep right now, but they still need to wake up at 6:40 am on weekdays and the days when they take a long time to fall asleep are the days when they don't want to get up for us. Then we have two grumpy kids that don't want to get peeled away from their cozy cribs. After that, they end up napping late- sometimes we wake then at 4:30 pm after starting nap at 1 pm, which means then that they aren't sleepy enough for bedtime when they should be. It's a vicious cycle that I'd love to figure out a way to break. Sam and Anna are still in cribs and sleep sacks. However, Anna has been pacifier-free for over a month! It was much easier that I thought it would be, so I am extremely glad we waited until she showed us she was ready to ditch it.
I think Anna is a little more advanced in motor skills than Sam right now. She's great at jumping and kicking a ball, although Sam can also do both. Anna is also much more of a calculated risk-taker when it comes to climbing things. Sam kind of crashes through life, climbing everything and running everywhere- which sometimes results in more bumps and bruises for him. I still have a hard time getting him to lift his feet off the ground in the Cozy Coupe so I can push him, while Anna mastered that last summer. Anna has also mastered our toddler light switch pull, but Sam hasn't figured out how to push it up to turn the light off again. Sam's fine motor skills are excellent though- when he really wants to, he can really get in a zone and carefully stack a tower of blocks taller than himself... or put together an entire train track by himself. Anna and Sam both take off their coats on their own (unzipping and removing the arms) and Anna puts on her own pants most days. Either it is a huge coincidence, or she gets that the label goes in back/zipper in front because almost all of the time, the pants are not backwards- whether jeans or an elastic waistband.
Sam final incisor finally broke through within the last week or so, making his total teeth count 16. He got all 4 canines before that incisor which was supposed to show up on average a year ago. Anna's last canine (upper left) is about to break through at any time- which makes her tooth count 15 going on 16. Anna's hair? Still super curly. I adore those ringlet curls and I will cry the day I realize they are gone for good.
Within days of their 2 year old birthday, it seems like a switched flipped and someone clued our toddlers into the fact that they were supposed to start acting like two year olds at meals. Anna refused to sit in her high chair for several days in a row. And after that, I was tired of the same old battle so the high chairs got retired and boosters were introduced at home. We still get a daily challenge from her to get in the booster, but not as much. Sam and Anna have sat on real chairs for months at daycare though, so I am sure that is where her issues are coming from. She also has become super picky about what she'll eat lately, which is concerning to us, since her weight has always been something we've had to think about. I'm hoping for a nice number on the scale at the well child appointment in a few days so we can relax on working so hard to get her to eat. Sam though, is eating like a champ. He's our little meat and yogurt lover- and will eat anything with ketchup or Parmesan cheese all over it. The other day he moved all his corn and peas into his ketchup spot, slathered them up, and then (only after that) ate every last one. Anna loves crackers, especially a big graham cracker. Because one broken up just doesn't taste the same, of course.
With the Twos come more wanting independence, more asserting possession, and LOTS more "Mines!" If there's a way Anna thinks she can do something herself, she will try. Sam and Anna like to play the "My ____!" game with each other... so the phrase "I'm everybody's mama" (or insert just about any other word: Daddy, Bella, Elmo...) is said a lot these days.
2 year old weight and height stats to come in a few days!
Size wise, Anna's back in size 4 diapers after running out of our box of free size 3s. Sam is wearing size 5 diapers (yup, still not attempting that potty training stuff and won't be for a while although two potty chairs sit our basement). Both Sam and Anna are wearing almost all 24 month/2T things, although they are in that in between stage when the size down looks too small and yet the size up is sometimes too big. I can't wait for warmer weather to stay and have them live in shorts and Ts every day when the length of the sleeves and legs don't matter.
Sam and Anna are talking in almost all complete sentences or long phrases of 3-5 words. It is so easy to communicate with them now. Sam likes to report the day's events from daycare, like what they ate for lunch, what they played with, and he even told me last week that he had a "poopy diaper at nap time" when I noticed he was wearing different clothes than he was in the morning. Their vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds too- it seems like every day, they utter a new word in appropriate context that I've never heard from their mouths before. Both Sam and Anna say "Moot!" when they want somebody to move... which I think is pretty darn cute. They are also doing more labeling of adjectives before nouns unprompted, like pointing out a "red truck" passing us (minor truck obsession on car rides going on right now), or telling us that the milk jug they are helping carry is "heavy milk." Along with a greater memory for their increase vocabulary came requests for specific food at mealtimes. It is rare we get through a meal without requests for "cheese please (Parmesan cheese)" or "Ketchup" or "yogurt (from Sam)." In the past, Sam and Anna were able to often say the next letter in the alphabet song if we pause, and now they are able to sing several letters in order on their own. Sam started called Anna "Annabel" more frequently (because a new child at daycare calls her that as well), while Anna calls Sam now about 50% of the time "Sam" and 50% "B" She's also calling herself Anna less and using I, me, and mine more often.
As they have for months both Sam and Anna know all 11 colors... but lately Anna has taken to calling everything pink (because it's her favorite color or because she wants it to be pink). When we call her on her mistake, she almost always tells us the correct color the second time, so I know she still remembers them. Sam's favorite color is probably blue right now. At 22 months Sam and Anna knew circle, star, triangle, heart and diamond... now they are getting a good handle on rectangle and square as well. Sam and Anna have counted objects to around 5, they can recite numbers (oral counting) to about 10 and they have a good understanding of what 1, 2 and 3 means when asked how many are in a set of objects. We are working on representing the numbers 1, 2, and 3 with fingers and Anna especially has been really catching on. Anna can identify the number 2 in print (although I don't know if they can identify more than that). Letter and sound identification is about the same, but they are beginning to remember the way the letters look in their names... i.e. recognize their name in print.
It may be partly because of their size (which at this point I don't think is that much smaller than average) but it seems like everywhere we go, people are commenting on how advanced they are. Neither one is shy in a public setting. Anna likes to tell people "Bye- thank you!" to random strangers- whether they held the door open for us, checked us out, or told us a compliment. They do so well out in public (most of the time), that I thank my lucky stars and hope it continues so that taking both of them out and about isn't a headache. Going out to eat has never been a problem, and rarely do we have issues in stores. Sam and Anna willingly leave the playground and children's museum when we say it is time to go. I am thankful for two very obedient children when we go places.
Pretend play continues to be a big hit. Anna's dollhouse from Christmas is probably the top hit tied with our kitchen. Mega Blocks and Little People are also daily faves. Sam and Anna love to color, use playdoh and paint. We try to paint once a week on the weekends- so far we've finger painted, painted with tubes, marbles, paintbrushes, shaving cream and peppers. Sam asks to paint often, but it just isn't something we can tackle on weeknights once we are home from daycare. Sam and Anna rotate pretty well between what we have to play with, and I can't really think of many toys still out that aren't played with much anymore.
Over the winter we received several Elmo books as gifts, and they are daily requested reads, especially Elmo Loves Hugs. Good Night Gorilla is making a resurgence in the book department for Anna as well. Sam particularly likes our small collection of Hands Are Not for Hitting, Teeth Are Not for Biting and Tails Are Not for Pulling... which is good, because he needs the messages reinforced more than Anna does!
Sleep wise, Sam and Anna have been in a small rut of taking longer to go to sleep at night. I'm thinking they need less overall sleep right now, but they still need to wake up at 6:40 am on weekdays and the days when they take a long time to fall asleep are the days when they don't want to get up for us. Then we have two grumpy kids that don't want to get peeled away from their cozy cribs. After that, they end up napping late- sometimes we wake then at 4:30 pm after starting nap at 1 pm, which means then that they aren't sleepy enough for bedtime when they should be. It's a vicious cycle that I'd love to figure out a way to break. Sam and Anna are still in cribs and sleep sacks. However, Anna has been pacifier-free for over a month! It was much easier that I thought it would be, so I am extremely glad we waited until she showed us she was ready to ditch it.
I think Anna is a little more advanced in motor skills than Sam right now. She's great at jumping and kicking a ball, although Sam can also do both. Anna is also much more of a calculated risk-taker when it comes to climbing things. Sam kind of crashes through life, climbing everything and running everywhere- which sometimes results in more bumps and bruises for him. I still have a hard time getting him to lift his feet off the ground in the Cozy Coupe so I can push him, while Anna mastered that last summer. Anna has also mastered our toddler light switch pull, but Sam hasn't figured out how to push it up to turn the light off again. Sam's fine motor skills are excellent though- when he really wants to, he can really get in a zone and carefully stack a tower of blocks taller than himself... or put together an entire train track by himself. Anna and Sam both take off their coats on their own (unzipping and removing the arms) and Anna puts on her own pants most days. Either it is a huge coincidence, or she gets that the label goes in back/zipper in front because almost all of the time, the pants are not backwards- whether jeans or an elastic waistband.
Sam final incisor finally broke through within the last week or so, making his total teeth count 16. He got all 4 canines before that incisor which was supposed to show up on average a year ago. Anna's last canine (upper left) is about to break through at any time- which makes her tooth count 15 going on 16. Anna's hair? Still super curly. I adore those ringlet curls and I will cry the day I realize they are gone for good.
Within days of their 2 year old birthday, it seems like a switched flipped and someone clued our toddlers into the fact that they were supposed to start acting like two year olds at meals. Anna refused to sit in her high chair for several days in a row. And after that, I was tired of the same old battle so the high chairs got retired and boosters were introduced at home. We still get a daily challenge from her to get in the booster, but not as much. Sam and Anna have sat on real chairs for months at daycare though, so I am sure that is where her issues are coming from. She also has become super picky about what she'll eat lately, which is concerning to us, since her weight has always been something we've had to think about. I'm hoping for a nice number on the scale at the well child appointment in a few days so we can relax on working so hard to get her to eat. Sam though, is eating like a champ. He's our little meat and yogurt lover- and will eat anything with ketchup or Parmesan cheese all over it. The other day he moved all his corn and peas into his ketchup spot, slathered them up, and then (only after that) ate every last one. Anna loves crackers, especially a big graham cracker. Because one broken up just doesn't taste the same, of course.
With the Twos come more wanting independence, more asserting possession, and LOTS more "Mines!" If there's a way Anna thinks she can do something herself, she will try. Sam and Anna like to play the "My ____!" game with each other... so the phrase "I'm everybody's mama" (or insert just about any other word: Daddy, Bella, Elmo...) is said a lot these days.
2 year old weight and height stats to come in a few days!
Monday, November 21, 2011
20 Months Old... and a Half
Picture me a little sheepish, since it is now 12 days past Sam and Anna's 20 month "birthday." Honestly, I hadn't even taken their monthly picture yet, until today. I don't think I've ever been this late with that, but with it getting darker earlier and the crappy lighting our house has, I was waiting for a time when we were all home in the daylight to take pictures. Key word there is all home, because my husband has been gone so much that I've haven't felt up to attempting to corral both Sam and Anna for their monthly pictures without some assistance. I did today though, and I don't think they turned out that bad.
My "babies" are getting bigger and bigger. Sam wore his first 2T shirt the other day. He has only been wearing 18 month clothing since mid September, so since he was in 12 months from last winter until this fall, we haven't gotten nearly enough wear out of the 18 month stuff. I guess our weight gain project is continuing to work! This was the first time I was a little sad about the need to size up. It just seems like a big jump from sizes in "months" or sizes in "T" for toddler. Anna's fitting into her 18 month clothing even better, although she did just wear a 9-12 month onesie the other day. Sam wears size 6 shoes and Anna wears 5.5 size shoes.
Phrases are a regular occurrence now. It is very common for them to put together 3 words/concepts to communicate with us, like "mama, more please," or "no Bella, down!"I would even go so far as to say that both have said things that would qualify as sentences as well. Anna has said "Uh oh mama, where did it go again?" complete with the cutest little hand gesture as she shrugs her shoulders. Both Sam and Anna are regularly using me, I, my, and mine to refer to themselves as well. I was wondering when the "mine!" would show up. Sam is really enjoying saying "my daddy" or "my mommy" They also like to label things as their color when talking about objects, like telling you that an apple they are eating is red, or that our car is gray, etc. As for total number of words they know and use- I gave up counting a long time ago, because it is well over several hundred at this point.
Both Sam and Anna are making a lot of new animal signs right now... mostly because our newest Signing Time DVD is Volume 9- Zoo Train. Sam and Anna especially like the sign for gorilla and zebra, while they also now know tiger, hippo, rhino, lobster, shark, shrimp, dolphin, panda, crocodile, giraffe, monkey, octopus, whale, crab, kangaroo, penguin, seal, camel, elephant, bat, lion, starfish and animal. These two kids adore animals, so this was right up their alley. Anna especially is stringing together multiple signs with words to communicate, like "more again please?" They both seem to understand and can follow most directions we ask- such as "give Anna her coat" or "please hold my hand" or "put the puzzles away."
Sam and Anna know their colors and will say most of them, although green is the hardest to decipher and white is the least consistent. Having a gray car helped them learn that color! Anna prefers purple stuff, while Sam likes yellow and red best right now. I've caught both naming heart, star and circle shapes, but they do know what a triangle is if I tell them to find the triangle, they just don't say that word verbally yet. Sam's favorite letter continues to be M, and so he's been pretty stubborn to focus on any other letters right now. Anna likes O and e (I wear a lot of clothing with a word on it that has M, o, and e in it), although she says "eee" for P, Z, T, C, B, D, G and V since when you say them, they kind of end with that sound. They can both distinguish between "Sam"and "Anna" in print. Anna's favorite number to say is 2, while Sam likes 9. They don't really count (and by count I mean say the numbers in order) on their own, but they know when to say their favorite numbers in the sequence when I am counting. :) If they "count" on their own, it often comes out as one number said several times as they point, like "2, 2, 2.."
It seems like Sam and Anna are more independent players than before, but that might be a by product of the amount of time that their daddy has been away from home lately. Their pretend play has become more complex as well. Anna talks to her babies and hold conversations with them- asking them questions, and ending the conversations with a kiss. She likes to change her baby doll's diaper, put it in her high chair, give it her pacificer, etc. Sam is really into Elmo right now. He searches out the diapers that have Elmo on them twice (all of ours have Elmo on them once), and requests those. He likes to sing along to Elmo's song when we play it for him. They continue to be stellar clean-uppers. I don't know we did it, but we managed to have kids that like putting things away in something rather than dump stuff out. It is our routine to clean up together before we eat or go somewhere else.
Anna's favorite book is probably Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin or any of the How Do Dinosaurs... books this month. She really likes the dinosaur books and we have several of them. She's finally showing less interest in 5 Little Ducks. I'm enjoying the break from reading that one multiple times a day! Sam's favorite book is still the family member book I made on shutterfly. He loves his grandmas so much, he was thrilled to see them over Thanksgiving. That kid was grinning ear to ear and saying over and over, "grandma, grandma grandma!" as soon as he realized where we were. He does love two books that have horses in them as well- Big Red Barn and The Very Busy Spider.
With Daddy being gone on 3 trips in the past month, Sam's been going through another separation anxiety stage. Most days he needs to bring his "Bap Bap" into daycare (his lovey- a white cloth diaper we used as a burp cloth) although she says he doesn't carry it around all day long. He had a lot of anxiety when Daddy would pack up our vehicle, going outside multiple times to carry stuff out over our road trip this past weekend. I'm hopeful this stage will pass once we've been back to normal for awhile.
Both Sam and Anna regularly climb into their own high chairs at meals, and both have climbed into their car seats in our cars on their own. Still no sign of climbing out of cribs anytime soon, thanks to sleep sacks though.... Anna's throwing ability has really improved in the last month. She can really launch stuff with her overhand throw. She had a lot of fun throwing around a football the other day. Both can walk up and down stairs using the railing independently, but they have been doing that for awhile. Sam and Anna each have very different running styles. Sam tends to take smaller steps but goes at a faster speed, while Anna takes larger steps going a slower speed. Their dancing style is different too- Sam prances on his tiptoes, while Anna tends to bend her knees and bounce up and down .
Sam and Anna are pretty proficient at using spoons now- Anna can especially use a spoon to put soup in her mouth without spilling. Since she loves tomato soup, this is a nice development to help speed along mealtimes. Sam is starting to like puzzles with multiple pieces that fit together rather than the one piece by itself puzzles we've done for months.
Sleep wise, things are similar to last month, although I've noticed that we typically get a long nap out of them on Saturdays- after putting them down at 1 we usually end up waking them up after 4 pm so it doesn't interfere with bedtime. Our one nap a day is always over 2 hours, typically 2 1/2 hours, and up to 3+ hours before we will wake them up. Bedtime is at 7:30/7:45, wake up is at 6:50 on weekdays and they will sleep usually until 7/8 am on weekends (so usually 11-12 hours of nighttime sleep).
Sam has been showing more readiness signs for potty training, although I still don't have plans to do that anytime soon. He has started telling us before he is going to poop, and tries to change his diaper on his own afterwards if we aren't quick enough. It has been nice to ask both of them if they have a dirty diaper and get a correct answer instead of needing to do a smell check too.
Sam also finally got one of his lower lateral incisors- about the same time Anna's first canine broke through. We got a nice break from teething there for a while. Sam's canines are close to arriving soon, with a total tooth count of 11. Anna currently has 13 total teeth.
Sam and Anna have become a little more pickier eaters this month. They've both learned to lick or suck off any dipping sauce without eating the food, so our old trick of using dipping sauces like ketchup to get them to eat something won't work anymore. While they still eat veggies, they both definitely eat less vegetables than before. Food favorites include grapes, mac and cheese, and pasta with red sauce.
The best part of twins is how they interact with each other. Sam and Anna always kiss each other goodnight, and kiss frequently during the day. They love to give Group Hugs on comand. Anna recently has started comforting Sam if he's upset by rubbing his back and telling him "it's okay." She also has tried to tickle Sam when he wasn't wearing clothes before a bath saying "tickle tickle!" 20 months is a blast!
My "babies" are getting bigger and bigger. Sam wore his first 2T shirt the other day. He has only been wearing 18 month clothing since mid September, so since he was in 12 months from last winter until this fall, we haven't gotten nearly enough wear out of the 18 month stuff. I guess our weight gain project is continuing to work! This was the first time I was a little sad about the need to size up. It just seems like a big jump from sizes in "months" or sizes in "T" for toddler. Anna's fitting into her 18 month clothing even better, although she did just wear a 9-12 month onesie the other day. Sam wears size 6 shoes and Anna wears 5.5 size shoes.
Phrases are a regular occurrence now. It is very common for them to put together 3 words/concepts to communicate with us, like "mama, more please," or "no Bella, down!"I would even go so far as to say that both have said things that would qualify as sentences as well. Anna has said "Uh oh mama, where did it go again?" complete with the cutest little hand gesture as she shrugs her shoulders. Both Sam and Anna are regularly using me, I, my, and mine to refer to themselves as well. I was wondering when the "mine!" would show up. Sam is really enjoying saying "my daddy" or "my mommy" They also like to label things as their color when talking about objects, like telling you that an apple they are eating is red, or that our car is gray, etc. As for total number of words they know and use- I gave up counting a long time ago, because it is well over several hundred at this point.
Both Sam and Anna are making a lot of new animal signs right now... mostly because our newest Signing Time DVD is Volume 9- Zoo Train. Sam and Anna especially like the sign for gorilla and zebra, while they also now know tiger, hippo, rhino, lobster, shark, shrimp, dolphin, panda, crocodile, giraffe, monkey, octopus, whale, crab, kangaroo, penguin, seal, camel, elephant, bat, lion, starfish and animal. These two kids adore animals, so this was right up their alley. Anna especially is stringing together multiple signs with words to communicate, like "more again please?" They both seem to understand and can follow most directions we ask- such as "give Anna her coat" or "please hold my hand" or "put the puzzles away."
Sam and Anna know their colors and will say most of them, although green is the hardest to decipher and white is the least consistent. Having a gray car helped them learn that color! Anna prefers purple stuff, while Sam likes yellow and red best right now. I've caught both naming heart, star and circle shapes, but they do know what a triangle is if I tell them to find the triangle, they just don't say that word verbally yet. Sam's favorite letter continues to be M, and so he's been pretty stubborn to focus on any other letters right now. Anna likes O and e (I wear a lot of clothing with a word on it that has M, o, and e in it), although she says "eee" for P, Z, T, C, B, D, G and V since when you say them, they kind of end with that sound. They can both distinguish between "Sam"and "Anna" in print. Anna's favorite number to say is 2, while Sam likes 9. They don't really count (and by count I mean say the numbers in order) on their own, but they know when to say their favorite numbers in the sequence when I am counting. :) If they "count" on their own, it often comes out as one number said several times as they point, like "2, 2, 2.."
It seems like Sam and Anna are more independent players than before, but that might be a by product of the amount of time that their daddy has been away from home lately. Their pretend play has become more complex as well. Anna talks to her babies and hold conversations with them- asking them questions, and ending the conversations with a kiss. She likes to change her baby doll's diaper, put it in her high chair, give it her pacificer, etc. Sam is really into Elmo right now. He searches out the diapers that have Elmo on them twice (all of ours have Elmo on them once), and requests those. He likes to sing along to Elmo's song when we play it for him. They continue to be stellar clean-uppers. I don't know we did it, but we managed to have kids that like putting things away in something rather than dump stuff out. It is our routine to clean up together before we eat or go somewhere else.
Anna's favorite book is probably Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin or any of the How Do Dinosaurs... books this month. She really likes the dinosaur books and we have several of them. She's finally showing less interest in 5 Little Ducks. I'm enjoying the break from reading that one multiple times a day! Sam's favorite book is still the family member book I made on shutterfly. He loves his grandmas so much, he was thrilled to see them over Thanksgiving. That kid was grinning ear to ear and saying over and over, "grandma, grandma grandma!" as soon as he realized where we were. He does love two books that have horses in them as well- Big Red Barn and The Very Busy Spider.
With Daddy being gone on 3 trips in the past month, Sam's been going through another separation anxiety stage. Most days he needs to bring his "Bap Bap" into daycare (his lovey- a white cloth diaper we used as a burp cloth) although she says he doesn't carry it around all day long. He had a lot of anxiety when Daddy would pack up our vehicle, going outside multiple times to carry stuff out over our road trip this past weekend. I'm hopeful this stage will pass once we've been back to normal for awhile.
Both Sam and Anna regularly climb into their own high chairs at meals, and both have climbed into their car seats in our cars on their own. Still no sign of climbing out of cribs anytime soon, thanks to sleep sacks though.... Anna's throwing ability has really improved in the last month. She can really launch stuff with her overhand throw. She had a lot of fun throwing around a football the other day. Both can walk up and down stairs using the railing independently, but they have been doing that for awhile. Sam and Anna each have very different running styles. Sam tends to take smaller steps but goes at a faster speed, while Anna takes larger steps going a slower speed. Their dancing style is different too- Sam prances on his tiptoes, while Anna tends to bend her knees and bounce up and down .
Sam and Anna are pretty proficient at using spoons now- Anna can especially use a spoon to put soup in her mouth without spilling. Since she loves tomato soup, this is a nice development to help speed along mealtimes. Sam is starting to like puzzles with multiple pieces that fit together rather than the one piece by itself puzzles we've done for months.
Sleep wise, things are similar to last month, although I've noticed that we typically get a long nap out of them on Saturdays- after putting them down at 1 we usually end up waking them up after 4 pm so it doesn't interfere with bedtime. Our one nap a day is always over 2 hours, typically 2 1/2 hours, and up to 3+ hours before we will wake them up. Bedtime is at 7:30/7:45, wake up is at 6:50 on weekdays and they will sleep usually until 7/8 am on weekends (so usually 11-12 hours of nighttime sleep).
Sam has been showing more readiness signs for potty training, although I still don't have plans to do that anytime soon. He has started telling us before he is going to poop, and tries to change his diaper on his own afterwards if we aren't quick enough. It has been nice to ask both of them if they have a dirty diaper and get a correct answer instead of needing to do a smell check too.
Sam also finally got one of his lower lateral incisors- about the same time Anna's first canine broke through. We got a nice break from teething there for a while. Sam's canines are close to arriving soon, with a total tooth count of 11. Anna currently has 13 total teeth.
Sam and Anna have become a little more pickier eaters this month. They've both learned to lick or suck off any dipping sauce without eating the food, so our old trick of using dipping sauces like ketchup to get them to eat something won't work anymore. While they still eat veggies, they both definitely eat less vegetables than before. Food favorites include grapes, mac and cheese, and pasta with red sauce.
The best part of twins is how they interact with each other. Sam and Anna always kiss each other goodnight, and kiss frequently during the day. They love to give Group Hugs on comand. Anna recently has started comforting Sam if he's upset by rubbing his back and telling him "it's okay." She also has tried to tickle Sam when he wasn't wearing clothes before a bath saying "tickle tickle!" 20 months is a blast!
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Moonwalking, Jumping, Somersaults and Climbing, Oh My!
Today, Sam started "moonwalking" by walking backwards. He thinks it is the most fun thing ever... until he runs into a wall. This means I spent a lot of today telling him to watch out, or grabbing him to avoid a catastrophe!
This week Anna also learned how to jump. As in both feet off the ground at the same time, powered by her own force jumping. She's been interested in jumping for awhile and really trying hard to do it, so she was extremely pleased when she was successful for the first time. Although I do have to say it has been adorable watching her unsuccessfully attempt to do it.
Also, we learned that we can use our toys as platforms to climb up over the arms of the couch from the floor. Then we like to flip head over heels upside down onto the cushion. Sam can climb into his own high chair and he's getting close to climbing into his car seat. The only thing holding him back is that the sides are pretty tall and he can't quite conquer that aspect.
Now, just today Anna did her first ever somersault on the floor. My little girl is a gymnast in training.
Such a fun age!
This week Anna also learned how to jump. As in both feet off the ground at the same time, powered by her own force jumping. She's been interested in jumping for awhile and really trying hard to do it, so she was extremely pleased when she was successful for the first time. Although I do have to say it has been adorable watching her unsuccessfully attempt to do it.
Also, we learned that we can use our toys as platforms to climb up over the arms of the couch from the floor. Then we like to flip head over heels upside down onto the cushion. Sam can climb into his own high chair and he's getting close to climbing into his car seat. The only thing holding him back is that the sides are pretty tall and he can't quite conquer that aspect.
Now, just today Anna did her first ever somersault on the floor. My little girl is a gymnast in training.
Such a fun age!
Monday, July 18, 2011
Two Walkers!
Well, I definitely think what I've heard is true about babies that are a little slower development-wise in one area; that chances are they are focusing their energy in another area of development. While Sam and Anna were later walkers, they continue to amaze me with their communication and fine motor skills every day. Today I've finally agreed that Anna is a walker. At 16 months old, Anna is not just taking steps anymore, she is walking!
She's taken steps for a while now, but mostly initiated by me or my husband. Sometimes (more often at night) she'd spontaneously walk up to 14 steps, but more for the fun of walking and probably the cheers and attention we gave here. We thought she did better when she was holding something at the same time like a toy, probably because it kept her focus off of the potential to fall. Anna would also give in easily- never allowing herself to really truly fall. When she starts to feel like she's losing her balance, she immediately either drops to her knees or sits down on on her bottom, or grabs onto the safety object she has nearby (the wall, the couch, a chair, a taller toy, etc.) . I think she was capable of many more steps in a row than she was doing but just not allowing herself to get outside of her narrow comfort zone.
However, within the last week or so, Anna's been spontaneously walking throughout the day more and more and crawling less and less. She's walking to get from one place to another. She walked from the living room to our bathroom for a bath tonight. I've lost count how many maximum steps she's made in a row now. Her main reason for the sudden surge in confidence? Sam has been running around the house playing with our dog by chasing her lately. They have so much fun, and I think Anna's been really wanting to join in, but it's a little hard to do that when you are crawling on the ground.
Honestly, I did not want early walkers. The idea of chasing 2 walking (and running!) 9 month olds that were probably going in opposite directions at the same time scared me. I was perfectly happy to have them start to walk at a year old. Then I agreed that even 14 months would be cool, because I could get a few extra months of merely crawling twins (it's easier to catch up with them if they are on all fours!). I said I wouldn't start to worry or play the mommy-comparison-game until after 14 months. I mostly followed that statement. Sam learned to walk at 14 months, and perfected his walk into a run during 15 months. Anna lagged behind her brother a bit. She was cautious about sitting (not perfecting sitting until 9 months) and I had a feeling she'd be the same way about walking. I'd be lying if I would say I wasn't concerned, but I was a little. I knew she'd walk soon, but I was just hoping it was well before the danger zone of 18 months. Nobody asks how many words your little ones says- everyone always asks if they are walking. Now that Sam and Anna are 16 months old, the "are the walking?" question doesn't even really come up anymore because I think everyone assumes they are. And I know most kids are at 16 months- but that still doesn't mean there is anything wrong with not walking at that point.
I didn't think she was delayed, Anna was just focusing her attention on her verbal communication development and her fine motor development (on top of being a little cautious about walking). When I look at the milestones suggested for a 2 year old in those areas, she's already there at 16 months. She has a spoken vocabulary of over 50 words (not including the signs she knows but does not verbally say), follows directions, and not only points to objects in books when they are named, but can identify some objects in books by name when asked what they are. She stacks blocks 7+ blocks tall, holds a spoon right side up into her mouth, flips switches and turns knobs. Except for the spoon stuff, Sam's the same way.
They might not be physically advanced in their gross motor skills, but considering both mine and my husband's athletic ability, I didn't really imagine either one as a sports star anyway. I'm proud of them for what they have accomplished so far in their short lives all the same.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Little Sponges
Sam and Anna are amazing me lately. Their ability to comunication and understand has just skyrocketed! It's so awesome to see and witness.
Sam's been in a repeat everything stage. He'll point all over the place, asking us to name whatever he's pointing at. Once we tell him, he tries his hardest to repeat the words. While reading a book, he'll point to all sorts of things in the pictures and repeat what he tell him too. My favorite in the last few days was telling him a monkey says "Ooo ooo ooo" and hearing him say "Ooo ooo ooo" right back.
The other day Anna took her socks off like she often does. I found them, held them up and asked her if she wanted her socks back on. She nodded yes, and climbed into my lap. Then she took the socks and tried to put them back on her feet on her own.
When we tell them it's time to go bye-bye they crawl towards the door. When we say it is time to eat, they head for their high chairs.
This is such a fun stage!
Sam's been in a repeat everything stage. He'll point all over the place, asking us to name whatever he's pointing at. Once we tell him, he tries his hardest to repeat the words. While reading a book, he'll point to all sorts of things in the pictures and repeat what he tell him too. My favorite in the last few days was telling him a monkey says "Ooo ooo ooo" and hearing him say "Ooo ooo ooo" right back.
The other day Anna took her socks off like she often does. I found them, held them up and asked her if she wanted her socks back on. She nodded yes, and climbed into my lap. Then she took the socks and tried to put them back on her feet on her own.
When we tell them it's time to go bye-bye they crawl towards the door. When we say it is time to eat, they head for their high chairs.
This is such a fun stage!
Thursday, April 21, 2011
One of Everyone's Fears About Day Care
My daycare provider did the unthinkable yesterday... she sent me an email in the morning that Sam took his first step- and walked about 7 feet from their kitchen to their living room. I tried to give myself a little time to find perspective on this one, but I'm still sad about it. You see, I missed it. I wasn't there. I missed his first steps. Not only did I miss it, but so did my husband.
I told her when we started going there to pretend all milestones didn't happen until we mentioned them first. That way I could be ignorant about either of my babies' ability to sit, stand, crawl or walk and live it like it really was the first time when I saw it. No one would be the wiser, except her.
I think she forgot that conversation. Or was just too excited to think about it before shooting off the email. (Totally understandable I guess, and I don't begrudge her for it really.)
My first reactions was not to cheer for my son's new found skill, but to hold back tears for not being there to witness it and cheer him on in person. I'm trying to just focus on Sam's accomplishment and be happy and proud of him. Every time I think about it that sadness just creeps in and makes me want to cry. Alas, this is the beast of daycare.
The fear of missing part of your little one's childhood.
The fear of someone else being there when you are not.
So Sam's taking multiple steps in a row... but forgive me if I just pretend for a while he's not. Until I see some steps for the first time, that is.
I told her when we started going there to pretend all milestones didn't happen until we mentioned them first. That way I could be ignorant about either of my babies' ability to sit, stand, crawl or walk and live it like it really was the first time when I saw it. No one would be the wiser, except her.
I think she forgot that conversation. Or was just too excited to think about it before shooting off the email. (Totally understandable I guess, and I don't begrudge her for it really.)
My first reactions was not to cheer for my son's new found skill, but to hold back tears for not being there to witness it and cheer him on in person. I'm trying to just focus on Sam's accomplishment and be happy and proud of him. Every time I think about it that sadness just creeps in and makes me want to cry. Alas, this is the beast of daycare.
The fear of missing part of your little one's childhood.
The fear of someone else being there when you are not.
So Sam's taking multiple steps in a row... but forgive me if I just pretend for a while he's not. Until I see some steps for the first time, that is.
Monday, April 11, 2011
The Gap is Narrowing
In the first year of Sam and Anna's life, there were several babies I knew born a few months earlier or later than Sam and Anna were. I loved hearing all about their developmental changes because I either got an insight into what was coming up next or relived those special first moments, or was reassured that whatever Sam and Anna were doing was completely normal and within an acceptable range for their age. ...Or perhaps I may have even fallen into the mommy-trap once or twice and did some comparison (Face it, we all do it.)
Now that Sam and Anna are over a year old, that age gap has really narrowed, or even disappeared in some cases. There's this fuzzy timeline that babies around a year old give or take a few months follow. Little ones (I'm still trying to adjust to not using the term babies anymore) are learning to walk; learning to talk; eating and drinking more and more "real" food. They are developing their own distinct personalities more and more every day. I find there are babies several months older that are in the same place developmentally in some areas as Sam and Anna... but yet there are kids a few months younger in the same place in some areas as well. It's been a long time since I last mentally adjusted a little for Sam and Anna's earlier than their due date arrival into the world.
Sam and Anna aren't walking yet and I promise I won't have a single thought of concern until they are at least 14 months old. My nephew that was born a month earlier was walking at 9 months... but says no words. Sam and Anna each have about 10 words in their vocabulary. Sam and Anna are on 100% whole milk in sippies; no bottles and 100% eating what we eat (and have been for months)... while my nephew will only eat crackers beyond purees and sometimes takes an occasional MOTN bottle of formula in addition to a bedtime bottle. The once gargantuan size difference between the three of them is much smaller now. They seem to be peers now instead of worlds apart like they once were.
This isn't the only comparison I've been noticing. Babies I know born 4 months older seemed ages apart in that first year as well, but now they are standing side by side too. By kindergarten there will be completely no difference between Sam and Anna and babies born either 6 months earlier or 6 months later. (My disclaimer: Those summer birthdays do sometimes act younger than the rest of their classmates though.) The gap will continue to fade and I like that. I like I can relate to some moms more than ever now, too.
Now that Sam and Anna are over a year old, that age gap has really narrowed, or even disappeared in some cases. There's this fuzzy timeline that babies around a year old give or take a few months follow. Little ones (I'm still trying to adjust to not using the term babies anymore) are learning to walk; learning to talk; eating and drinking more and more "real" food. They are developing their own distinct personalities more and more every day. I find there are babies several months older that are in the same place developmentally in some areas as Sam and Anna... but yet there are kids a few months younger in the same place in some areas as well. It's been a long time since I last mentally adjusted a little for Sam and Anna's earlier than their due date arrival into the world.
Sam and Anna aren't walking yet and I promise I won't have a single thought of concern until they are at least 14 months old. My nephew that was born a month earlier was walking at 9 months... but says no words. Sam and Anna each have about 10 words in their vocabulary. Sam and Anna are on 100% whole milk in sippies; no bottles and 100% eating what we eat (and have been for months)... while my nephew will only eat crackers beyond purees and sometimes takes an occasional MOTN bottle of formula in addition to a bedtime bottle. The once gargantuan size difference between the three of them is much smaller now. They seem to be peers now instead of worlds apart like they once were.
This isn't the only comparison I've been noticing. Babies I know born 4 months older seemed ages apart in that first year as well, but now they are standing side by side too. By kindergarten there will be completely no difference between Sam and Anna and babies born either 6 months earlier or 6 months later. (My disclaimer: Those summer birthdays do sometimes act younger than the rest of their classmates though.) The gap will continue to fade and I like that. I like I can relate to some moms more than ever now, too.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
10 months!
Whoa- 10 months, double digits, 2 months away from 1 year old and the end of babyhood? Unbelievable.
The ninth month ushered in all sorts of changes!
At 10 months, Anna:
Is in size 3 diapers
Wears 9 month clothes, although she does have a pair of 12 month jeans she wears! (and er, um... can still fit into a few 6 month stuff. Seriously.)
Drinks 6-9 oz a time, 4 times a day
Is so over baby food purees. On 99% table food, and only because we're trying to use up what purees we've got left so I give it the good ol' college try each meal at home.
Has eaten so many new foods, I can't list them all- including kiwi, ricotta, ravioli, Alfredo, marinara sauce, blueberries, cranberries, etc. Loves blueberries, cheese, cranberries
Dislikes meat
Is a pro at picking up with a pincher grasp and places thing in her mouth with the same grasp
Learned how to drop food off her tray for our dog and calls "Bella" while looking for her
Likes to throw things
Enjoys trying to get people to shriek at her in a call-and-response pattern
Doesn't like being confined by the car seat cozy cover and will work her head and arms out of it while pulling the bottom elastic off with her foot.
Still not a car sleeper unless she's really, really tired
Pops right up when it is time to get up in the morning
Takes 2 longer naps of 1 1/2 hours to 2 1/2 hours a day, unless she's teething. Or learning something new.
Loves to race her brother by crawling all over the house
Can go from sitting to crawling and crawling to sitting on her own pretty quickly
Is starting to climb things like the fireplace mantel and over chair rungs
Is starting to pull up. Can pull up to her knees, but still too scared to pull up to standing.
Is a very tentative stander (like with sitting, we think she is afraid of falling). She gets pretty upset if you are not there spotting her, even though she can stand for a long time
Plays very happily independently
Likes to play the I've-got-your-nuk-Sam game and laughs hysterically every time she gets it away from him
Doesn't like things put in her ears, but tolerates fingernail clipping more than her brother
Favorite toy of the moment: balls from the Busy Ball Popper and the Laugh and Learn Kitchen
Says Dada, Mama and Bella on her own
Repeats words all the time- including "ravioli" (it came out more like "ah-ee-o-ee") and "tacos"
Likes Pat-a-Cake and The Itsy Bitsy Spider
Can wave goodbye
Second tooth popped through (bottom left)
Got her second cold
Is very very ticklish under her chin
Both are interacting with each other all the time- playing together, talking/yelling (happily) at each other, giggling together, racing, etc.
The ninth month ushered in all sorts of changes!
At 10 months, Anna:
Is in size 3 diapers
Wears 9 month clothes, although she does have a pair of 12 month jeans she wears! (and er, um... can still fit into a few 6 month stuff. Seriously.)
Drinks 6-9 oz a time, 4 times a day
Is so over baby food purees. On 99% table food, and only because we're trying to use up what purees we've got left so I give it the good ol' college try each meal at home.
Has eaten so many new foods, I can't list them all- including kiwi, ricotta, ravioli, Alfredo, marinara sauce, blueberries, cranberries, etc. Loves blueberries, cheese, cranberries
Dislikes meat
Is a pro at picking up with a pincher grasp and places thing in her mouth with the same grasp
Learned how to drop food off her tray for our dog and calls "Bella" while looking for her
Likes to throw things
Enjoys trying to get people to shriek at her in a call-and-response pattern
Doesn't like being confined by the car seat cozy cover and will work her head and arms out of it while pulling the bottom elastic off with her foot.
Still not a car sleeper unless she's really, really tired
Pops right up when it is time to get up in the morning
Takes 2 longer naps of 1 1/2 hours to 2 1/2 hours a day, unless she's teething. Or learning something new.
Loves to race her brother by crawling all over the house
Can go from sitting to crawling and crawling to sitting on her own pretty quickly
Is starting to climb things like the fireplace mantel and over chair rungs
Is starting to pull up. Can pull up to her knees, but still too scared to pull up to standing.
Is a very tentative stander (like with sitting, we think she is afraid of falling). She gets pretty upset if you are not there spotting her, even though she can stand for a long time
Plays very happily independently
Likes to play the I've-got-your-nuk-Sam game and laughs hysterically every time she gets it away from him
Doesn't like things put in her ears, but tolerates fingernail clipping more than her brother
Favorite toy of the moment: balls from the Busy Ball Popper and the Laugh and Learn Kitchen
Says Dada, Mama and Bella on her own
Repeats words all the time- including "ravioli" (it came out more like "ah-ee-o-ee") and "tacos"
Likes Pat-a-Cake and The Itsy Bitsy Spider
Can wave goodbye
Second tooth popped through (bottom left)
Got her second cold
Is very very ticklish under her chin
At 10 months, Sam:
Is in size 4 Overnight diapers, size 3 Pampers during the day
Wears mostly 12 month clothing
Drinks 6-9 oz a time, 4 times a day
Is now a better night sleeper than Anna- will go 12 hours without a peep almost every night
Is so over baby food purees. On 95% table food, and only 5% puree because we're trying to use up what purees we've got left
Has eaten so many new foods, I can't list them all- including kiwi, ricotta, ravioli, Alfredo, grapes, all kinds of cheeses, blueberries, cranberries, etc.
Loves pasta and variety in his food
Will sweep all the food he doesn't want to eat to the sides of the tray so only the stuff he wants is in the middle
Does best being put down right after his bottle completely awake. Goes to sleep on his own within minutes
Takes 2 longer naps of 1 1/2 hours to 2 1/2 hours a day
Pulls to stand everywhere
Pulls up to stand in his crib if he's in a good mood when he wakes up, but usually he needs a few moments to himself before interacting with you or he's grumpy!
Starting to cruise furniture
Has learned how to sit back down somewhat gracefully after standing up
Tries to climb over the Leapfrog Learning Table or over his sister
Likes to climb into your lap and bury his face in you (awww)
Huge separation anxiety- he cannot stand it if you are not in the same room with him or if he can't see you
Hates being changed (diaper or clothes)
Favorite toy of the moment: Busy Ball Popper and Laugh and Learn Kitchen
Says Dada and Mama
Says "Anna" all the time- it is so evident he adores his sister
Likes to open and close drawers and doors
Beelines for the hard floors in the kitchen and bathroom and then pats the floor when he gets there
Got his second cold that lasted over a week this time
Second tooth is just breaking through...
Detests getting his fingernails clipped, but allows you to stick things in his ears
Is very ticklish all over
Both are interacting with each other all the time- playing together, talking/yelling (happily) at each other, giggling together, racing, etc.
Why picture taking at 10 months has been the hardest month yet- babies on the move!
Outtakes:
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
A Time of Rapid Changes
Around 6ish months, it seemed like we were at a standstill developmentally for awhile. Nothing new seemed to be happening. Lately, we've had the opposite occurring- it seems like every time I turn around, Sam or Anna has some new Something to share with the world.
We decided that Anna has officially said her first real word now. She has been repeating words we say for a while , but this word is one she says on her own, and in an appropriate context. She has been enamoured with our dog for a long time, so it makes sense that "Bella" is Anna's first real word. She understands what it means and says it often when she tries to get Bella to come closer or pay attention to her. I like this newest development much better than the barking she's done for the past few months (although cute to see her bark like a dog to get the dog's attention, it is much cuter to hear her voice say Bel- ah.)
Anna is getting better at army crawling, but really excels at turning around. That girl can turn 360 degrees like on a dime and in speedy fast time. Although she can army crawl, she prefers to turn her body the way she wants it to go and then roll in a direct path to her destination. It's hilarious to watch her turn and roll, turn and roll, turn and roll all over the room to get from one toy/person/dog to another in succession.
She has been back to waking frequently at night lately, and I think it is because she's rehearing crawling on all fours in her mind. Whenever we see her awake in her crib, she's on all fours rocking back and forth. I think she's really trying to figure it out and her crawling days won't be far behind...
*****
Sam has now shown a huge amount of interest in climbing. His favorite thing to climb is our fireplace mantel. He loves to climb up there and try to open the doors. We have put a rubber bumper around the edge of the mantel for spills however I am not quite sure how to baby proof the fireplace doors though...
Along with the climbing, Sam is pulling up on everything. He can pull up to his knees and maintain that position and pull to stand. This new development allowed him to learn how to sit on his own too- although he spends very little time sitting in one place now since his adventurous spirit takes him all over our house...
Also today at 9 months 1 week and 4 days old Sam's first tooth made its grand appearance. His first tooth is his bottom right, while Anna's first tooth was the bottom left.
That's the latest in our world right now! Some photos from this weekend:
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
8 Months!
Since I was a little behind on 7 months, it only made sense to wait a little with the 8 month post, so they were evenly spaced (that's the story I am sticking to, anyway!) So here we are at 8 (and 1/2) months!
At 8 months, Anna:
Is in size 3 diapers (I miss Pampers Swaddlers, though!)
Wears 9 month clothes, although I sneak in my favorite 6 month outfits from time to time
Weighed 15 lb 2 oz (gaining about a lb in a month) - almost 10%ile
Drinks 6-9 oz a time, 4 times a day
Now eats a snack or two each day in addition to three meals a day
In addition to the old list of foods, has recently tried meat including chicken, beef and turkey Other new foods include parsnips, cauliflower, zucchini, yogurt, acorn squash, oatmeal, multigrain cereal, cheerios, pancakes, stuffing, jello, white potato, corn, bread
Is increasing the amount of table food eaten at every meal
Makes the "Anna-face" when she's done eating (or just wants to be cute) which means she wrinkles her nose, and sniffs with a smile on her face
Lights up when she gets handed her sippy cup
Continues to wake a couple of times a night mostly due to overnight dirty diapers, but when it isn't that can put herself to sleep without interference
Now is super wiggly on the changing table making it hard to change her or get her dressed
NO LONGER SWADDLED!!!
Since she sleeps in a sleepsack, often ends up sleeping on her tummy facing in an entirely different direction
Takes 2 longer naps of 1 1/2 hours to 2 1/2 hours a day
Started swimming lessons and loves to try to drink the pool water
Still dislikes sitting on her own???
Has been cleared from Physical Therapy for her torticollis
Has army crawled a few inches forward
Rolling is her preferred method of transportation
Loves jumping in the jumperoo- throws back her head and arches her back so it bounces even more
Likes to bang objects together
Makes a "eh eh" barking noise to communicate wants- she makes that noise when she wants more food or wants our dog to come closer
Uses Dada to refer to both parents
Has developed some serious stranger anxiety (just in time for the holidays, ha!)
Loves playing with Mom's necklaces even more than before
Can wave goodbye
First tooth (bottom left) poked through... then promptly receded and hasn't been seen since
At 8 months,Sam:
Is in size 3 diapers (but often leaks through them at night)
Wears all 9 month clothing
Weighed 16 lb 11 oz (gaining about a lb in a month) - almost 10%ile
Drinks 6-9 oz a time, 4 times a day and still one MOTN bottle
Now eats a snack or two each day in addition to three meals a day
In addition to the old list of foods, has recently tried meat including chicken, beef and turkey Other new foods include parsnips, cauliflower, zucchini, yogurt, acorn squash, oatmeal, multigrain cereal, cheerios, pancakes, stuffing, jello, white potato, corn, bread
Is increasing the amount of table food eaten at every meal and has a superb pincher grasp
Has gotten much better at opening wide for spoonfuls of food as well
No longer falls asleep right at the end of his nighttime bottle instantly
Takes 2 longer naps of 1 1/2 hours to 2 1/2 hours a day
Starting swimming lessons and loves the pool!
Has also been cleared from Physical Therapy for his torticollis
Is now a sitting pro and can sit indefinitely if he wants to
Can stand while holding onto something for longer periods but still needs a spotter for spills
Is more confident in his crawling and can get from point a to point b in a direct path. Crawled from our living room to our bathroom without assistance
Likes to be adventurous and explore new rooms on his own
With his newfound freedom (thanks to crawling) discovered he loves cords and the glass on our entertainment center
Now gets changed on the floor most of the time because his extreme wiggly-ness makes it dangerous to change him on the changing table. He tries to flip and crawl right off the end!
Has serious stranger anxiety as well (also should make the holidays interesting!)
Is developing his sense of humor- this week tried to be funny by putting a pacifier in Mom's mouth and then laughing- right afterwards, he used a burp cloth to pretend "wipe" off Mom's mouth and laughed hysterically again
Likes to bang objects together
Favorite toy of the moment: besides books, our wooden blocks or anything that isn't a traditional toy: the Bumbo tray, a wooden spoon, the Puffs container, etc.
At 8 months, Anna:
Is in size 3 diapers (I miss Pampers Swaddlers, though!)
Wears 9 month clothes, although I sneak in my favorite 6 month outfits from time to time
Weighed 15 lb 2 oz (gaining about a lb in a month) - almost 10%ile
Drinks 6-9 oz a time, 4 times a day
Now eats a snack or two each day in addition to three meals a day
In addition to the old list of foods, has recently tried meat including chicken, beef and turkey Other new foods include parsnips, cauliflower, zucchini, yogurt, acorn squash, oatmeal, multigrain cereal, cheerios, pancakes, stuffing, jello, white potato, corn, bread
Is increasing the amount of table food eaten at every meal
Makes the "Anna-face" when she's done eating (or just wants to be cute) which means she wrinkles her nose, and sniffs with a smile on her face
Lights up when she gets handed her sippy cup
Continues to wake a couple of times a night mostly due to overnight dirty diapers, but when it isn't that can put herself to sleep without interference
Now is super wiggly on the changing table making it hard to change her or get her dressed
NO LONGER SWADDLED!!!
Since she sleeps in a sleepsack, often ends up sleeping on her tummy facing in an entirely different direction
Takes 2 longer naps of 1 1/2 hours to 2 1/2 hours a day
Started swimming lessons and loves to try to drink the pool water
Still dislikes sitting on her own???
Has been cleared from Physical Therapy for her torticollis
Has army crawled a few inches forward
Rolling is her preferred method of transportation
Loves jumping in the jumperoo- throws back her head and arches her back so it bounces even more
Likes to bang objects together
Makes a "eh eh" barking noise to communicate wants- she makes that noise when she wants more food or wants our dog to come closer
Uses Dada to refer to both parents
Has developed some serious stranger anxiety (just in time for the holidays, ha!)
Loves playing with Mom's necklaces even more than before
Can wave goodbye
First tooth (bottom left) poked through... then promptly receded and hasn't been seen since
At 8 months,Sam:
Is in size 3 diapers (but often leaks through them at night)
Wears all 9 month clothing
Weighed 16 lb 11 oz (gaining about a lb in a month) - almost 10%ile
Drinks 6-9 oz a time, 4 times a day and still one MOTN bottle
Now eats a snack or two each day in addition to three meals a day
In addition to the old list of foods, has recently tried meat including chicken, beef and turkey Other new foods include parsnips, cauliflower, zucchini, yogurt, acorn squash, oatmeal, multigrain cereal, cheerios, pancakes, stuffing, jello, white potato, corn, bread
Is increasing the amount of table food eaten at every meal and has a superb pincher grasp
Has gotten much better at opening wide for spoonfuls of food as well
No longer falls asleep right at the end of his nighttime bottle instantly
Takes 2 longer naps of 1 1/2 hours to 2 1/2 hours a day
Starting swimming lessons and loves the pool!
Has also been cleared from Physical Therapy for his torticollis
Is now a sitting pro and can sit indefinitely if he wants to
Can stand while holding onto something for longer periods but still needs a spotter for spills
Is more confident in his crawling and can get from point a to point b in a direct path. Crawled from our living room to our bathroom without assistance
Likes to be adventurous and explore new rooms on his own
With his newfound freedom (thanks to crawling) discovered he loves cords and the glass on our entertainment center
Now gets changed on the floor most of the time because his extreme wiggly-ness makes it dangerous to change him on the changing table. He tries to flip and crawl right off the end!
Has serious stranger anxiety as well (also should make the holidays interesting!)
Is developing his sense of humor- this week tried to be funny by putting a pacifier in Mom's mouth and then laughing- right afterwards, he used a burp cloth to pretend "wipe" off Mom's mouth and laughed hysterically again
Likes to bang objects together
Favorite toy of the moment: besides books, our wooden blocks or anything that isn't a traditional toy: the Bumbo tray, a wooden spoon, the Puffs container, etc.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Now that we've got a crawler...
The world just got a little bit bigger for Sam. He has been rolling all over to get from one place to another, but not always in a direct path from point A to point B. Now that he is crawling, he is much more efficient to get where he wants to go. He has a penchant for the glass on our entertainment stand... 
Bella's toy basket...
Pulling stuff down from the shelves in the babies' room...
And munching on cords- like the computer cord. (this I do not have a picture of since I thought it was prudent that I hustled to remove said cords from his mouth rather than stop and take a photo because nom nom noming on a electrical cord was "so cute.")
Anna's been pretty consistently a week behind Sam in physical developmental stages (maybe because she was considered as 36 weeks at birth and Sam was 37 weeks?) So I figure I've got a week before she's on the move very deliberately as well. I'm just glad they waited to both crawl until after Dad was home- whew! That was a close one!
Friday, August 6, 2010
Gulp. Here We Go...
It's enough to make me break into a cold sweat. Tonight is day 1 of Operation: Break-the-Swaddle-Addiction. I don't know who is more reliant on the miracle blanket swaddle: Sam and Anna, or me. I figured it's about that time since the babies routinely break out of the miracle blanket in the wee morning hours now, and they just don't know how to put themselves back to sleep without both arms firmly swaddled. They need opportunities to practice going to sleep with that environment. Plus, our daycare days are right around the corner (sadly) and it would be fantastic to be swaddle free and sleeping well by the time we get to that point.
I know it will all be worth it when my babes are soundly sleeping sans swaddle in just under a month when I go back to work. I really didn't want to attempt this when I had to take care of 16 children all day before coming home to two infants! Wish us luck while we attempt the seemingly impossible in the days ahead. I welcome any advice or tips from former swaddling junkies!
After Operation: Break-the-Swaddle-Addiction is a success, the plan is to move onto Operation: Eliminate-the-Pacifier-Crutch with a goal of completion by 6 months (as is when it is recommended you stop using pacifiers). Anna's already got a jump on this one, because once she discovered her hands were pretty tasty, she turns her nose up at a pacifier and prefers gnawing on her own flesh instead. Then Operation: Begin-Solid-Foods will commence; which we will start before we actually hit 6 months.
This is how I used to find them in the morning:
This is how I've been finding them lately:
Against what I think may be the best path, we are going cold turkey. I threw the miracle blankets in the laundry basket with a gulp, and broke out the sleep sack. We did consider doing the one arm out, then the other plan- but mathematically, we came up with this: It would probably take 3 days for our little ones to get used to one arm out. After a while we'd attempt both arms out and that would take another 3 days for them to get used to it. Then we'd try to stop wrapping it around their middle, which feasibly would take another 3 days. It seemed like a really long, drawn-out process. Then, we thought if we did cold turkey, we'd probably be in for 3 days of hell, but then Sam and Anna would be resigned to their new sleeping arrangements. You do the math: 9 nights vs. 3 nights. With a glass of wine poured, we set out on night number one tonight.
I know it will all be worth it when my babes are soundly sleeping sans swaddle in just under a month when I go back to work. I really didn't want to attempt this when I had to take care of 16 children all day before coming home to two infants! Wish us luck while we attempt the seemingly impossible in the days ahead. I welcome any advice or tips from former swaddling junkies!
After Operation: Break-the-Swaddle-Addiction is a success, the plan is to move onto Operation: Eliminate-the-Pacifier-Crutch with a goal of completion by 6 months (as is when it is recommended you stop using pacifiers). Anna's already got a jump on this one, because once she discovered her hands were pretty tasty, she turns her nose up at a pacifier and prefers gnawing on her own flesh instead. Then Operation: Begin-Solid-Foods will commence; which we will start before we actually hit 6 months.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Talking At 4 Months????
I took this video to document how Sam and Anna had that magical moment recently in which they started to discover each other. They've spontaneously held hands a few times in the past, but that was different. They now seem aware of each other as a person. Sam smiled at Anna the other day, and he only smiles at people. Anna babbled at Sam this week too. We're on the brink of a great milestone that not many babies get to experience: when a twin learns they have a built in playmate to go through life with. One that will be there every step of the way- learning how to eat together, crawl together, walk together, grow up together.
Little did I know that I captured something pretty darn amazing, until I watched it on our computer. It's about 27 seconds in- listen closely to what Anna says:
Am I crazy or did my 4 month old baby tell her twin brother "I love you"????? OMG- and she says it so purposely- she doesn't "say" anything else but that. First rolling over at 4 weeks (only 3 days old adjusted age, to boot), now talking in sentences??? I'm astounded by her genius-ness. ;-)
Little did I know that I captured something pretty darn amazing, until I watched it on our computer. It's about 27 seconds in- listen closely to what Anna says:
Am I crazy or did my 4 month old baby tell her twin brother "I love you"????? OMG- and she says it so purposely- she doesn't "say" anything else but that. First rolling over at 4 weeks (only 3 days old adjusted age, to boot), now talking in sentences??? I'm astounded by her genius-ness. ;-)
Friday, July 9, 2010
A New Stage I Don't Like
A little bit ago one of the updates from Baby Center told me that my children would start showing that they preferred Mom and Dad over other people.
Sam and Anna must have read that update, too.
We've hit a oh-so-fun stage where most of the time only Mom (and sometimes Dad) can feed them and maybe hold them.
It really stinks when you have relatives visiting from out of state for a week and could actually get help/a break from feeding once in a while. But nope. Anna seems to be worse than Sam- she won't even let her grandmother feed her or hold her. So even though I have reinforcements, I'm still feeding two mouths pretty much by myself most of the day.
Their personalities are coming out a little bit more every day. And boy, does Anna sure have some fiery personality!
She has decided she doesn't want help to go to sleep, and actually gets more mad when you try to hold her to help her get drowsy. Don't even try to rock or sway- she'll shriek! So although it just feels so wrong to do, we finally figured out the best thing to do is just lay her in her crib swaddled and awake (and usually crying because you have to carry her to get her there), then tell her it's time to sleep and sweet dreams. Then she cries for a minute, stops on her own and falls asleep. If we continue to intervene and rock/shush/sway/pat/hold her instead, it could take 30 minutes or so before she'd exhaustedly give up.
Sounds great in theory, because then I can immediately turn to Sam and work on getting him drowsy when I'm parenting solo during the day. And I guess it means that she's learned how to self-soothe. BUT- we haven't figured out what to do then when she wakes mid-nap and doesn't soothe herself back to sleep. Which did happen a few times in the last few days. Picking her up doesn't work because it just fires her up more. AND- how to get her to sleep when we're out and about? Boy, babies always keep you guessing, just when you think you've figured something out!
Sam and Anna must have read that update, too.
We've hit a oh-so-fun stage where most of the time only Mom (and sometimes Dad) can feed them and maybe hold them.
It really stinks when you have relatives visiting from out of state for a week and could actually get help/a break from feeding once in a while. But nope. Anna seems to be worse than Sam- she won't even let her grandmother feed her or hold her. So even though I have reinforcements, I'm still feeding two mouths pretty much by myself most of the day.
Their personalities are coming out a little bit more every day. And boy, does Anna sure have some fiery personality!
She has decided she doesn't want help to go to sleep, and actually gets more mad when you try to hold her to help her get drowsy. Don't even try to rock or sway- she'll shriek! So although it just feels so wrong to do, we finally figured out the best thing to do is just lay her in her crib swaddled and awake (and usually crying because you have to carry her to get her there), then tell her it's time to sleep and sweet dreams. Then she cries for a minute, stops on her own and falls asleep. If we continue to intervene and rock/shush/sway/pat/hold her instead, it could take 30 minutes or so before she'd exhaustedly give up.
Sounds great in theory, because then I can immediately turn to Sam and work on getting him drowsy when I'm parenting solo during the day. And I guess it means that she's learned how to self-soothe. BUT- we haven't figured out what to do then when she wakes mid-nap and doesn't soothe herself back to sleep. Which did happen a few times in the last few days. Picking her up doesn't work because it just fires her up more. AND- how to get her to sleep when we're out and about? Boy, babies always keep you guessing, just when you think you've figured something out!
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