Milestones – Page 12

19 Months going on 19 years

October 22, 2014 by Rebecca Whitehead

We celebrated the girls’ 19 month birthday last week with some tasty beet cupcakes. I never thought I would say “beet cupcakes” and “tasty” in the same sentence, but there you go.

The girls love oven-roasted beets because of their natural sweetness, so I figured they would love this recipe I adapted from Weelicious.

All of us (Bandit included) agreed they tasted pretty good, beet-yness and all. As an aside, I like to imagine that every time I manage to successfully sneak vegetables into the girls’ food, be it in eggs, muffins, green smoothies, casseroles or just straight up veggies, a deposit is made into my mommy brownie points bank account somewhere. Yes, I get that excited.

I am totally in love with the vibrant color the beets gave the cupcakes.

Amelia dug in without waiting for sis.

Nice of you to join us.

Wait…this has veggies in it? Mommy 1; twins 0.

The beet frosting doubled as lip gloss (bonus!)

Miss blue eyes.

Toddler approved.

Alright. Enough proper eating. Time to stuff our faces.

You only turn 19 months once.

Ready…set…

Go! Nom nom nom.

Belly. So. Full.

Side note: the jeans the girls are wearing are size 3T. They are a tiny bit long on them, but other than that, they fit. Please stop growing!

The girls burnt off their beet-induced energy by walking around and pointing out all the scarecrows, ghosts, skulls and skeletons in the neighborhood. When they started coming off their high, a neighbor’s miniature bench made the perfect resting spot.

And then they crashed. Crashed hard.

“It’s all for show!” giggled Samantha.

Because who wouldn’t want to take a nap on the cold cement sidewalk. The things toddlers find hilarious…

Lots of love,

Filed Under: Milestones, Year Two

Happy 18 Month Birthday!

September 12, 2014 by Rebecca Whitehead

S and A are officially one and a half years old! I’m having trouble wrapping my head around the fact that in just six months, I will have two two-year-olds.

Watercolor photos done with my new favorite app, Waterlogue.

One of the moms in my Moms of Twins Club emailed this poem entitled “The Last Time” to everyone. While I probably would have slapped her had I read this anytime within the first three months S and A were born (hearing about how you should be enjoying sleep deprivation while sleep deprived is like telling a lion they should enjoy being starved to death), now that I’m out of the fog of those early months, I can appreciate its truth.

If you are not in the mood for a sappy poem, I don’t recommend reading on. Otherwise, bring on the waterworks!

The Last Time

From the moment you hold your baby in your arms you will never be the same
You might long for the person you were before
When you had freedom and time
And nothing in particular to worry about
You will know tiredness like you never knew it before
And days will run into days that are exactly the same
Full of feedings and burping
DIaper changes and crying
Whining and fighting
Naps or a lack of naps
It might seem like a never-ending cycle

But don’t forget….

There is a last time for everything
There will come a time when you will feed your baby for the very last time
They will fall asleep on you after a long day
And it will be the last time you ever hold your sleeping child
One day you will carry them on your hip, then set them down
And never pick them up that way again
You will scrub their hair in the bath one night
And from that day on they will want to bathe alone
They will hold your hand to cross the road
Then never reach for it again
They will creep into your room at midnight for cuddles
And it will be the last night you ever wake to this
One afternoon you will sing “the wheels on the bus” and do all the actions
Then never sing them that song again
They will kiss you goodbye at the school gate
The next day they will ask to walk to the gate alone
You will read a final bedtime story and wipe your last dirty face
They will run to you with arms raised for the very last time.

The thing is, you won’t even know it’s the last time
Until there are no more times.
And even then, it will take you a while to realize.

So while you are living in these times,

Remember there are only so many of them
And when they are gone, you will yearn for just one more day of them

For one last time.

S and A– you are growing up faster than I would like, but I’m enjoying ever last crazy minute of it. Except when you screech. That–not so much. That being said, I hope I have many, many more days left of picking you up when you’re sad, holding both your hands as we walk down the street, cuddling on the couch for storytime, singing and being silly together, and hearing you say, “Mama!” as you leap into my arms. I melt into a pathetic puddle of gushy tears just thinking about there being a “last time” for any of it.

Happy 18 Month Birthday, Samantha and Amelia!

We love you.

Lots of love,

Filed Under: Milestones, Year Two

Farewell, sweet morning nap

September 5, 2014 by Rebecca Whitehead

It’s official! The girls have gone two weeks now without a morning nap. Earlier in August, the morning nap was hit or miss, and the lack of consistency was driving me crazy!

At first, I was horrified by the idea of giving up the morning nap. How would I get anything done? How was I going to keep the girls busy all morning? Now that we’ve gotten into a rhythm, I’m actually loving the recent nap consolidation!

Our current schedule:

7-7:30 a.m.: Girls wake up
7:45-8:00: Breakfast
8:00-8:30: Playtime while I clean up
8:30-9:00: Walk with Bandit
9:00-9:30: Get the girls ready for the day
9:30-9:45: Small snack
9:45-11:00: Outing (usually the park or gymnastics class if it’s their day to go)
11:00-11:15: Lunch
11:30-2:30: NAP TIME WOOT!
2:30-2:45: Girls wake up from nap
2:45-3:00: Snack
3:00-5:00: Playtime outside, have a friend over for a playdate, sometimes run errands, Daddy gets home
5:00-5:30 Bath time (we do baths well before bedtime because I read somewhere that for highly spirited kids, taking a bath is not calming, and therefore makes bedtime more of a struggle because they are riled up. Ever since we moved bath time back, bedtime has gone a lot smoother).
5:30-6:00: Dinner
6:00-6:45: Jake takes the girls to run out their extra energy at the park or we all take a walk together
6:45-7:00: Pajamas on, girls drink their milk, brush teeth, read stories, and soothing massage
7:00: Daddy kisses girls goodnight and returns to work
7:15 Lights out
7:30: Girls conk out!

Now that the girls have consolidated their nap into one three hour nap, I’ve found I actually like this a lot better than having to get them ready for two naps. Although the girls are absolutely exhausted and pretty cranky by 11 a.m., they go down without any trouble and stay asleep for a solid two and a half hour to three hour stint. This is a huge chunk of time for me to get things done!

For example:

My nap time project earlier this week:

This only took about fifteen minutes during the girls’ nap time, but since I don’t have to worry about the girls waking up in the middle, I’m more inclined to start projects. I’m not going to lie–it’s also nice to put my feet up and take a little nap myself some days!

Every day is a little different, but that’s pretty much our new schedule. I’m liking the new adjustments, but definitely dreading the day when the girls give up naps entirely. My goal is to keep them napping until kindergarten (not likely, I know, but I can hope!)

Lots of love,

Filed Under: Milestones, Year Two

Happy 17 Month Birthday

August 22, 2014 by Rebecca Whitehead

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.