While we were in Utah, Samantha and Amelia had their 17 month birthday, despite the fact that I ordered the girls to cease and desist any and all “getting older” activity. We took advantage of Aunt Sarah hanging out with us for the week to have her take some photos of the girls to capture the essence of life at 17 months!
Flashback to the twins’ first Utah trip exactly one year ago in August…
Samantha, five months old:
Samantha, 17 months old:
Amelia, five months old:
Amelia, 17 months old:
The infamous screaming Ute picture of Amelia! We will never let her live this one down.
Amelia was way more cooperative than Samantha this time, so most of the pictures are of her.
We were all obsessed with the chair Grandma bought used and refinished for the twins.
Amelia is our little ray of sunshine. I wouldn’t ever use the term, “mellow” to describe either twin, but Amelia is generally the more upbeat and easy-going of the two. She is typically better than Samantha about letting others hold her and she loves making friends. She was our best sleeper this month, sleeping from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. and taking an hour nap in the morning and a two hour nap in the afternoon consistently. She will sleep straight through Samantha screaming, sometimes waking up to see what’s going on and then rolling back over!
Amelia’s favorite activities at 17 months include climbing, running, pushing her shopping cart, reading, swimming, gymnastics class, swinging, picking out her clothes and accessories for the day, helping me unload the dishwasher, anything to do with animals, playing with water, and pointing to everything and saying, “Dat!”
Life is a blur right now with Amelia constantly on the go. Both girls started waving bye bye this month and will do it anytime someone (or Bandit) leaves the room.
Giggle monster!
The only way we could get Samantha to sit for two seconds was to give her something to hold.
Or throw. She’s definitely the moodier of the two.
The girls’ receptive language has come a long way this month. They understand many requests, including “Hug sister!” or “Hug dolly!”
The girls’ willingness to share has also improved greatly the past month. If I say, “Share with sister,” they will usually give whatever they have to the other, with the exception of something REALLY cool they’ve just found. Amelia has always been great at sharing, but even Samantha started giving things to Amelia if I asked her to this month.
The girls both adore animals and love to make animal sounds, including those of dogs, cows, horses, chickens, monkeys, owls, and birdies. All of their favorite songs, toys and books involve animals.
We are still working on their language skills at home and will see next month at their 18 month appointment if we need to put them in speech therapy. Amelia can say about 15 words, while Samantha says about 10. It’s hard to keep track because they’ll often say words only once (usually after repeating me) and then I never hear it again. The words they use consistently are mama, dada, dog, duck, cat, up, drink, diaper, this, that, bye, and hi.
A miracle! Everyone looking at the camera!
We had more success with Samantha bringing Grandma’s horsey ride out to the front yard for her. Yee haw!
Whoa back!
Anticipation…
Ride ’em cow girl!
I feel like I need to photoshop Amelia onto a live bull or something.
You used to play with this horsey 25 years ago? You’re old, mommy!
OH MY GOODNESS! OUR 17 MONTH BIRTHDAY TREAT!
Ice cream sandwiches (made with coconut milk since the girls have a dairy sensitivity)!
One happy family (who may or may not have been bribed with treats to look happy).
See what I said about sharing?
Nom nom.
Can I try yours?
Best. Day. Ever.
My absolute favorite of the bunch. I wish I could take this photo and make it come alive so that I could squeeze these two!
I think I’ll just take a lick.
Serious props to whoever invented this sandwich.
Are you sure mommy’s really letting us eat this?
Samantha’s favorite activities at 17 months include climbing, running, knocking things over, reading, standing atop tables, throwing food, walking Bandit, swimming, jumping into our arms, playing with stickers and pom poms, anything that involves speed and acrobatics, gymnastics class, dancing, doing her own version of tap dancing, climbing on top of the stroller, turning on the washing machine, helping me unload the dishes, and sitting on daddy’s shoulders.
Samantha has been the clingier of the two this month and literally holds onto my leg sometimes when I’m moving from room to room. She’s also been the more daring of the two, jumping off the edge of the pool into our arms like a maniac and climbing everything in sight. It’s been a struggle getting her to listen when I tell her to stop, usually when she’s running away from me.
And the award for most serious expression whilst devouring an ice cream sandwich goes to…Amelia!
The runner up: Samantha with the chocolate goatee!
The chocolate “makeup” makes Amelia look like some kind of sugar-crazed clown.
Not sure what happened here. I think Grandpa opened the door abruptly and scared Amelia.
Don’t you dare tell me I have something on my face.
Not that we ever had a problem before, but spotting Grandma and Grandpa’s house is definitely easy to pick out now! Grandma recently repainted the bench and front door the same shade of green, which turned out to be perfect for taking summer pictures.
Same bench, 2013:
The next day, we took a few more pictures before Aunt Sarah had to leave. The girls were less than enthused.
An extra day was NOT in our contract. Especially if it doesn’t include ice cream sandwiches.
Hey there, Mike!
Aunt Sarah and Mike with the girls (who, in the absence of ice cream sandwiches, wouldn’t cooperate unless they were holding this balloon).
Grandpa with the girls.
Amelia’s emotions change on a whim sometimes. Furious one moment:
Happy the next!
And back to sad!
Month 17 was a wild ride, girls. I’m just holding on to every last moment before you hit the big one and a half!
In the mean time, I will be staring at this picture daily, pretending like you are still chubby babies. Yes, I have issues.
Lots of love,
Growing up so fast! the faces while on the horse are so hilarious!
Haha, I agree! My mom also pointed out that in the ice cream sandwich pics, Amelia is holding up her pinky like a miss priss in almost all of them!