Samantha and Amelia: 16 Months

Samantha and Amelia turned 16 months old on Friday– happy birthday, girls! That means it’s time for a photo dump, obviously. While these photos were taken when the girls were 15 1/2 months old, taking pictures of them is so tiring now days, that there is no way I was going to do it over again two weeks later!
98% of my photos look like this: 
Or this…
…Which perfectly encapsulates what the girls are like at 16 months! Life has truly been a blur since their transition from babies at 12 months to full fledged toddlers! 
This is my view of the girls most days– either two blurry masses RUNNING around me:
Or their backs as they run away!

16 month stats for Samantha: 8 teeth, 27 pounds and 34 inches tall. Still in the 99th percentile. The girl is TALL! We’re looking at an adult height of six feet at this rate. Calling all volleyball and basketball coaches…I’ve got two recruits for you!
Samantha loves to: walk, RUN, climb, dance, clap, shake her musical instruments, play hide and seek, read her lift the flap books (and tear the flaps out), walk Bandit, swim, jump in the pool, splash in the kiddie pool, drink from Mommy’s water canteen, take a shower, drink from drinking fountains, feed herself with a spoon and fork. 
Fave foods: Sweet potato with cinnamon, peanut butter toast, mozzarella cheese, pita bread with hummus, watermelon, pasta, bananas (she’ll eat the entire thing!), and zucchini tots (a little snack I made the girls in order to get them trick them into eating zucchini. It’s basically bread crumbs, zucchini and cheese– a win win). 
Hates: Baths, being strapped down in her car seat, being strapped down in her stroller, being strapped down in her high chair (are we seeing a pattern?), when Amelia steals her toy, when Mommy won’t let her have something, when Bandit walks too fast for her to keep up.
Walks around the neighborhood take a minimum of an hour these days–Samantha and Amelia love to stop and look at every leaf!
                    
Words: Mama, Dada, dog, yeah, ruff ruff, baby sign for all done and eat. She doesn’t babble as much as Amelia and doesn’t speak as many words, preferring to observe and use gestures or grunt when she wants something. We are hoping her language will expand a little by her 18 month birthday.
Fave books: Anything with animals (Spot books, Peek a Boo Jungle, On the Farm)
Fave songs: Anything upbeat (especially BINGO, Here we go loop dee loo, Old MacDonald). Samantha loves to randomly “dance” by bending her knees up and down, spinning around in circles, shaking her fists, and wiggling her entire torso back and forth. 
Watching the doggies–her favorite. She will say ruff ruff every time she sees a dog…including Bandit (which is all. the. time.)
                     
                    
Since both girls are a little bit delayed with their speech (pretty normal for twins and for being premature, however), we took the girls to get a hearing test and to get their ears checked out this past week. They passed with flying colors, so at least we can rule out any ear issues when it comes to their talking. Their pediatrician isn’t concerned with their language and, after their 15 month appointment, said to wait and see what happens by 18 months, but that doesn’t mean we can’t give them a little at-home intervention in the mean time.
Samantha loves to “walk” her monkey. 
                     
Since the speech therapy clinic won’t take toddlers until they are 18 months old, I’ve been reading some books and getting ideas from speech therapy blogs so that we can work on their language skills at home. I’ve already seen an increase in the girls pointing and making eye contact to get what they want (precursors to a language explosion), saying “dat” when they want to know what something is, babbling, and trying to say new words. Their ability to sit still and listen or read a book with me has also greatly increased, which will directly impact their speech. 
                  
According to the research out there, twins, and active toddlers, in particular, are especially prone to speech delays. First of all, the girls have each other to talk to and since they babble with each other (and seem to understand each other just fine), they don’t have an immediate need to say actual words correctly.
Second, since there’s only one of me and two of them, the girls don’t get as much one-on-one exposure to language as they would if they were singletons. Lastly, active toddlers are constantly on the move, making it a challenge to get them to sit down and play with their farm animals/saying the names of the animals, or sitting through a book, for example. 
Always on the go. 
                 
Perhaps this is related to her lack of language skills, but 15-16 months has been the beginning of an era of full-on tantrums! This girl can SCREAM!
Sometimes it’s taking Bandit’s leash away from her. Other times it’s sister stealing her Wub. She can go from 0-60 in two seconds flat…happy one second and a red-faced, teary eyed, screaming maniac the next. And then back again. 
Sometimes I think she must have skipped a year and is actually a two-year-old. Nobody calls it the terrible one-and-a-halfs, after all! Samantha’s frustration levels definitely warrant that moniker sometimes. 
I think a lot of it is related to the fact that Samantha can’t always tell us what she wants and gets so darn frustrated that no one understands her! I’ve been reading Happiest Toddler on the Block (by the same doc who wrote Happiest Baby on the Block–an absolute lifesaver for us during the girls’ first three months), which has some great ideas for preventing/dealing with tantrums from highly spirited toddlers like Samantha and Amelia. Some of the strategies we’ve been implementing are already helping calm Samantha down when she’s really upset, so I hope they continue to work.
                           Intense is definitely a word I would use to describe Samantha.
                   
A busy little bee. Smiles for the camera are extremely rare these days.
On the opposite end of the tantrum spectrum, Samantha can also be the most giggly, excited, exuberant little human in the room. She’s constantly looking for ways to make us laugh and loves it when we ask her to show us her “Sammy laugh.” Drama queen!
Samantha is soooooo a mommy’s girl. Whatever I’m doing, she wants to be involved, whether that’s helping me cook or walk the dog. She’s been known to push Amelia out of my lap in order to be front and center for story time. 
Joie de vivre. 
Samantha is very helpful, grabbing her shoes and clothes when I ask, getting Bandit’s leash for me or helping me unload the dishwasher. 
While she gets frustrated when learning a new skill, her reaction when she does something new is priceless. Most recently, she learned to stack her wooden rings on a dowel, one by one– she was so proud of herself!
Often silly.
Sometimes sarcastic. 
Always Sammy girl. 
Amelia’s 16 month stats: 8 teeth, 24.8 pounds and 33 3/4″. This was the first month Amelia actually went down a little in the weight percentiles (from the 90th to the 80th). Still a big girl!

Naturally, Amelia got scraped up on her cheek RIGHT before we took pictures. She’s an adventurous one, that girl.

Amelia always seems to find the most interesting things on the ground. 

See ya. 

Like Samantha, Amelia loves to say “ruff ruff” and hang out with her canine buddy. 
Like Samantha, my view is usually of her back as she runs toward something more interesting. 
Amelia loves: walking her puppy, carrying around her bubbles, drinking from drinking fountains and water bottles, seeing dogs at the park, the slide, digging in the sand, climbing on benches, chairs and tables, dancing and singing, gymnastics, swimming and splashing, feeding herself with her fork and spoon, clapping when she hears music.  
Amelia hates: baths, when mommy doesn’t let her touch anything at the grocery store, sitting in the front seat of the cart at the store, when Daddy leaves in the morning, when Samantha steals a toy, when Mommy won’t let her have something. 
Fave foods: hard boiled egg, peanut butter toast, mango, kiwi, watermelon, grapes, zucchini tots, cheese, pasta, chicken, guacamole, pita bread, carrots, spaghetti squash–just about anything!
                      
Fave books: Anything with animals (Spot books, touch and feel animals books).
Fave songs: Anything upbeat– she’ll start dancing and clapping to pretty much anything. She especially loves to here BINGO, Wheels on the Bus, She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain, and some of Jake’s random 80s techno music (much to my dismay). 
Amelia says: mama, dada, hi, dog, done, up, yeah, duck, and does the baby signs for all done, more, and eat. She also gestures, points to what she wants and grunts a lot. We are hoping her language explodes in the next few months as well. 
Amelia loves pointing to the sun, moon or whatever catches her fancy. She’s extremely persistent on pointing and exclaiming, “Dat! Dat!” when she wants to know the name of an object or wants me to pay attention. 
One of my favorite characteristics of Amelia is that she is so sensitive and caring. She will follow little kids around the park, offering them her shovel, pail, whatever toy she has at the moment–even if they don’t want it! She’s been known to give spontaneous hugs to random kids too. 
If Samantha is crying, Amelia usually tries to go over and give her a hug or offer her a toy. If Amelia wakes up from her nap before Samantha, she’ll immediately give Samantha a great big bear hug once Samantha wakes. 
She’s a great helper and will bring her shoes or books to me when I ask. She also loves getting dressed and will pick out shirts and headbands for me to put on her (or her dolly). She loves being the class clown and will do anything to make us laugh. She’s usually adaptable in social situations and loves to play with other kids and grown ups. 
                  
                 
While very intense sometimes, overall, Amelia is the more even-tempered twin out of the two. 
The many angles of Amelia. 

Great at multi-tasking. 

Always one step ahead of me. 

Our fun-loving, kind-hearted, spirited Amelia. 
The girls’ relationship continues to blossom every day (for better or for worse!) 
One moment, they are having an epic battle over a tupperware container, and the next they are wrestling and giggling on the floor. 
Quick to forgive and forget. Forever BFFs.
We’ve learned a new trick for getting the girls to be in the same place at the same time. If one is running off, we’ll shout, “Amelia, where’s Samantha?” Amelia will immediately turn around and run to wherever Samantha is. At least we can round them up in the same place this way!
Batten down the hatches!
Here they come!
TWINZILLAS!

Just in case you skimmed this post, in summary, Samantha and Amelia are the most intelligent, adorable, beautiful 16 month olds of ALL time. Naturally. 
Lots of love, 

Signature

Jailbreak!

Yesterday during morning naps, Samantha fell asleep a lot later than Amelia, so I had the girls napping in separate rooms so as not to disturb each other. While Samantha slept in our master bedroom, Amelia was slightly awake in her crib, but since she usually sleeps a little bit longer, I left her there, figuring she would just go back to napping.

A few minutes later, I was in the master bedroom tiptoeing around Samantha while putting away some laundry, when I heard a little knock and a scratch scratch at the door. My first thought was, “Dumb dog!” But then I realized Bandit was already in the room under the bed. Uh oh.

I opened the door and there was Amelia, lying on the floor, hands outstretched as if she had expended every last ounce of energy to reach me. After getting over the initial shock of seeing her there, my next thought was, “Wow! You can apparate!”

After rationalizing that harboring secret magical powers probably wasn’t likely considering Amelia could have used her talents to apparate out of her detested car seat or high chair long before now, I came to my second conclusion: Amelia can climb out of her crib!

I carried the smirking Amelia to her room and observed the scene. No dents in the wood floor from a big fall (and no bruises on Amelia). Good. Nothing in the room was awry, so she had opened the door and had come straight over to find me, instead of wreaking havoc in her room. Could have been worse.

Another clue. Her blankie, Wub, and a few stuffed animals that were originally in her crib had mysteriously been moved into Samantha’s crib. Did she throw everything into Samantha’s crib (they love to trade toys when they are both in their own cribs at the same time) and then climb out her own? Or did she climb into Samantha’s crib and then climb out?

Other questions: did Amelia use the mesh crib liner as a ladder and then vault herself over the edge? Or were her movements more methodical and monkey-esque?

Is the gym to blame for her advanced climbing abilities?

Next, I placed Amelia in her crib and then walked out, spying on her from the crack in the door to see if she’d do it again so I could figure out her methods, but by then she was cranky, so my reconnaissance mission had to be postponed.

Hence the reason I’ve spent the evening reading articles entitled, “What to do when your toddler starts climbing out of her crib,” and browsing the Baby Center forums under the search terms, “Help! 15 month old can climb out of crib!”

So far, it looks like most people take the rails off and convert the crib to a toddler bed or simply put the mattress on the floor. I can only imagine the kind of late-night parties the girls will start having with no rails to keep them separated and contained.

It’s the end of an era. And so it begins…sigh.

Lots of love,

Signature

On the path to civilization

Ever since I bought the girls some new suction cup toddler bowls and toddler silverware when they were a year old, we’ve slowly been practicing how to eat like human beings instead of tiny barbarians.
We started out our “big girl learning time” a few times per week…less depending on my level of sanity and patience that day.
Big girl learning time OVER.
Hey, where’d you take my bowl?
Getting the hang of it.

 

Show off.

 

Now she’s just taunting me.

 

Overall, Amelia has been the better student, displaying less hubris than her class clown of a sister.
Like this, mom?

 

At least she has a good attitude about it.

 

The past week, we’ve really had a breakthrough and the girls have been eating with spoons and bowls three meals a day–oatmeal and fruit in the morning, yogurt and fruit for a snack in the afternoon, and whatever can be put in a bowl for dinner that day (rice, peas, veggies, etc.)

 

It’s not perfect, but we’re making progress.
        

 

Sometimes, it’s one step forward, and two steps back.
        
Now onto plates and forks!
Lots of love,
Signature

Toddlers and Tiaras–Soviet Edition

A few weeks ago, I signed up the girls for a free trial dance class at the same place the girls take swim lessons and gymnastics. According to the class description, the “Tutsi Toes” would be moving, grooving and wiggling their whole bodies to upbeat children’s tunes, while learning about rhythm, playing with musical instruments, clapping, improving coordination and having fun. Samantha and Amelia love “dancing” to music at home, so I thought it would be the perfect way to get their energy out whilst learning how to participate in more structured activities.
Amelia stretches before dance class.

I dressed the girls in comfy, casual clothing–similar to what they wear to gymnastics. Imagine my surprise when we walked into class and each of the ten other toddlers were dressed in full-on leotards, tights, tutus and ballet slippers! That should have been my first warning sign, but we stayed nevertheless.

Amelia practices her interpretive dancing skills.

The other Tutsi Toes in the class ranged from ages 14 months to 2 1/2 years, with most of the kids closer to the older range. However, even the fourteen month olds were dressed in formal dance attire. I must admit–they were pretty cute–but STILL. We’re talking about little cavepeople who can’t even utter a coherent sentence or walk in a straight line yet wearing dance clothes that cost more than the entire amount I’ve spent on my own clothing this year!

Samantha’s dance outfit. Let’s just say she stood out.
As the class began, it was clear it was not going to be ANYTHING like the class description. The instructor was straight out of a Soviet-era olympic gymnastics training regime…Russian accent and all.  Svetlana, as I will hereinafter refer to her as, was exactly what you would hope a teacher of young children wouldn’t be–cold, hard-core, and, well, Russian.
Instead of the “upbeat, kid-friendly” music I was expecting, Svetlana turned on some classical and wasted no time instructing us to guide the students into first position, with toes pointed outwards. I had Amelia, while Jake took Samantha and we literally had to force their feet apart for first position, second position and third position. It all seemed a little ridiculous, but we decided to stick it out.
Next, it was time for pliés and arabesques. By now, the girls had realized this was absolutely no fun at all, and started rebelling, wiggling out of our arms, going limp noodle on us on the floor, and screeching, while the other little robots dancers obediently complied with Svetlana’s demands. “NO PLAY. VORK. JUST VORK,” is a pretty fair summation of class.
After the “warm-ups,” Svetlana announced that we would now be practicing the routine the little Tutsi Toes would be performing in their upcoming recital, for those who had signed up. The routine consisted of more footwork, pliés, arabesques, spinning around and walking in a straight line across the stage.
The coup de gras came when Svetlana turned on–AND I AM NOT KIDDING YOU–the Miss America Theme Song and instructed us to help our toddlers walk across the floor, one by one, blow kisses to the audience and wave on the way out. UM NO.
This was quickly turning into an episode of Toddlers and Tiaras and I seriously couldn’t believe the other parents were willingly going along with it. Jake and I looked at each other in abject horror and nearly walked out, but, decided to stay once Svetlana turned on “Wheels on the Bus” for what she called “a leeeetle jazz pract-iz” for the kids.
The most entertaining part about the whole class was listening to some of the parents at the back of the room, who were coaching their older toddlers in the class (ages 2-2 1/2) from the sidelines. Curiously, many of them also sounded and looked Eastern European. “Follow vot Svetalana says!” they would shout from afar. “Votch your feet! Niet! Stop hafing fun and vork! Ve must beat ze Americans!” Maybe not that last part, but you get the idea.
Several times, I had to leave the dance room with a melting down Samantha and sit outside, looking in at the class through the two-way mirror. Amelia fared a bit better, but still threw a fit when we forced her to twirl or walk in a line instead of running over to the pile of hula hoops in the corner. Normally, this would have exasperated me, but instead it reassured me that the girls are normal, happy, intelligent energetic little toddlers who want to run around and have fun–not robots!
                      Sitting in a tupperware lid is WAY more fun than dance class, mom!
              
             
Toward the end of class, Svetlana ushered all the toddlers over to the bars, where we were to practice more pliés. We have a little monkey bar set at home that Jake made the girls for Christmas and on which they absolutely love swinging. Amelia’s eyes thus lit up in recognition when she saw the ballet bars, and immediately attempted to do somersaults over them. “VOT IZ ZIS? ZE BARS ARE NOT FOR SVINGING,” interjected Svetlana. Poor Amelia was so dejected!
At the very end, having completed the ballet and jazz exercises, it was time for tap dance. All the students ran over to the corner and donned MINI TAP SHOES. It was more than my mind could handle–so cute, but really? Obviously, we didn’t have tap shoes for Samantha and Amelia, so they had to make due with trying to stomp their feet on the floor to the beat. That was one part of class I think the girls really would have enjoyed, if only we were nice parents and had tap shoes for them!
At the end of class, Svetlana reassured us that it takes a few weeks for most toddlers to adjust to the rigors of her dance course. She proudly pointed to one of the 14 month olds and explained that she had been in the class since she was 12 months old and was now one of her “star students.”
When I explained that the girls did fine in their gymnastics class, which included more activity and less structure, Svetlana scoffed and said, “Gymnastics iz very simple, comrades. Anyvon can run around. Dance iz vay more vork and requires vay more coordination.”
That may be true, but I think we’ll be sticking to gymnastics in the future!
Lots of love,
Signature