12 Months!

The babies 1st birthday is on Saturday!

Since we're preparing for the birthday party, I took their 12 month pictures a little early.

 

 

Connor:

12 months

24-25 pounds

12-18 month clothes

 

Favorite Toys:

His Walker is still #1. His train, trucks, touch and feel books, and magnetic cookie puzzle.

 

 

Favorite Food:

Mac n Cheese, ham, tater tots, fruit & veggie squeeze pouches. He loves to eat but gets pretty picky when it comes to veggies so I have to give him the pouches so he at least gets something!

 

 

Activities:

Walking with his walker, opening and closing doors and cabinets, and climbing on everything.

Sleep:

He is teething so sleep is becoming a little more difficult. He would just rather cuddle with us instead of sleep in his bed.

 

 

Development:

He stands on his own a lot now. He's only taken 1 actual step though. But when he is standing on his own and he sees that we are watching him, there's a good chance he will dance a little. He is so funny.

He has 3 teeth and 3 more trying to come in.

Words: Dada, Mama, Bye Bye, Hi, Night Night, and I swear he says "Gotta Go", or at least he mimics me when I say it. We usually say it when he finds his walker and takes off.

 

 

Personality:

He has completely changed from the laid back baby he used to be. He will still sit in the recliner with us and watch tv or watch whatever is going on, but he just won't do it for long now. He has places to be and toys to play with and to take away from his sister.

He is all boy and loves to climb, especially up the stairs and he is very fast at it (don't worry, he is always supervised when he does it).

They have a couple of play cell phones and he knows to pick them up and hold them up to his ear to "talk" and sometimes he even says hello. But now he thinks everything is a cell phone and holds everything up to his ear. And then he will look up at us like he is so proud of himself.

He loves to take baths. When we start the tub and they come crawling into the bathroom, he literally squeals with excitement. I don't know if he likes the echo in the bathroom or if he really is just excited.

He is very ticklish, on his chest, thighs, and butt. And I have to admit that I love to tickle him just so I can hear his giggle.

When he starts to get fussy, I sometimes sing either Patti Cake or Twinkle Twinkle and he either starts clapping or trying to sing along.

He loves to jump on the bed (his crib). And if I start to say "5 little monkeys jumping on the bed", he starts bouncing up and down.

He is still a daddy's boy but lately he is wanting me to hold him. I think it's just because he is teething though and mama knows just what to do.

 

Chloe:

12 months

21.5 pounds

12-18 month clothes

 

 

Favorite Toys:

Her Moo Moo is #1. She gets excited when she sees it and she carries it around a lot. It's usually hanging from her mouth when she's walking around (yes, I said walking!). She also loves her farm, her vanity, and Connor's workbench. She also plays with his trucks and the cookie puzzle. She loves to walk and push her train and she loves to climb on their motor bike toy and their chairs.

 

 

Favorite Food:

Bananas. She will pretty much eat anything we give her, she just won't eat very much of it.

 

Activities:

She loves playing with her toys. She really loves opening and closing cabinets and this has resulted in a few smashed fingers. She loves to follow Connor around and if he is up walking around the house with his walker, she goes and finds another one and follows right behind him.

Sleep:

Very good sleeper. Even if she wakes up before everyone, she just plays in her crib and usually falls back to sleep. She is even sleeping in until anytime between 7:00-8:00 am on the weekends (she used to get up between 5:30-6:30 EVERY day!).

 

 

Development:

She is walking! More and more everyday. Crawling is still her first choice but she can walk across the room now compared to the 3-5 steps she was taking a few days ago. She also stands on her own all the time. She has 2 teeth.

Words: Dada, Mama, uh oh, all done

 

 

Personality:

She has also changed so much from the baby she used to be. I used to think she would be the one that would wear me out with her attitude and fussiness and that Connor would be my laid back, sweet, momma's boy, but it's the exact opposite. She is a sweet, loving, laid back, very observant, momma's girl. If I'm sitting on the floor next to where they are playing, she will come over and crawl up in my lap and just watch Connor play for a minute and then get back down and continue to play.

She smiles and laughs all the time.

She likes to have her picture taken (thank goodness!) and she loves to look at the pictures either on my camera or I sometimes show them to her on my ipad. The other day, I showed her a picture slide show I have been working on of pictures of them and it's set to music. She loved it! She just stared at for a long time and you could tell when she recognized someone because her face would light up.

She also loves bath time. So much so that it's getting harder to get her out of the tub. When it's time to get out, she will stand up and when we lean down to pick her up, she sits back down and starts splashing in the water.

She loves to watch cartoons first thing in the morning when we're getting her dressed and through her first bottle. She is always leaning around us to see the tv when her cartoons are on.

She is always watching Connor and copies a lot of what he does. If he is upset and fussing, she will let out a loud crying noise and then smile because she thinks it's funny.

Her and David have a funny copying game they do at dinner every night. She will lean over in her highchair like she is tired and David will copy what she does. When she sees him do this she smiles and sits back up, so David sits back up. Then she lays back down and David lays back down. They do this over and over and now they have added in arms. She will raise her arms up and David will copy her and she will put them back down and then back up. It's so cute.

 

 

Fun Facts about both babies (or should I start saying toddlers?!):

Connor will push Chloe around the house on the riding toys.

They love to ride horsey on Daddy.

They swap sippy cups at dinner at least 20 times every night and then both cups eventually end up on the floor.

When we put them to bed, after we shut the door, we watch them on the monitor get up and stand in the corners of their cribs and swap binks and toys back and forth. This usually results in someone losing a bink or Moo Moo falls on the floor and they start crying until we go in and fix it all. Sometimes they get right back up and do it all over again but most of the time the game is over then. We all walk to bed every night. David will hold one hand of one baby and I hold the other baby's hand and we all walk slowly down the hall to their room for bed.

 

 

I can't believe they are a year old already! It has definitely been an adventure and I feel like I have learned a lot about myself. Some good and some bad.

I'm not really sure how to put into words how the first year was for me. It's hard to describe something that was so exciting, fun, and fulfilling, but also so hard, exhausting, and frustrating at the same time. I'm not going to sugar coat it, twins are hard. There I said it! Granted, I have nothing to compare it to, but it's not what I had expected. But at the same time, it's the best thing in the world. Sometimes when I'm watching them play together, I still can't believe they are mine and that all of this is actually happening.

I'm so proud of the little people they are becoming and I hope they are proud of me.