Well the good news is we all survived the girls' first 18
months. The bad news is blogging hasn't made it to the top of my to-do list in
a while (and making the blog less ugly hasn't made it up there yet either). Here's an update on what you've missed....
The girls are healthy and happy and don't appear to have any
ongoing issues associated with being preemies. We had their 18 month check-up
last week. Here are their stats:
Alli: 31.5" (48.63%), 22 lb 14.7 oz (30.94%)
Dani: 31.25" (41.24%), 23 lb 12.4 oz (44.30%)
They both had reflux issues throughout their first year
which caused (in addition to lots of laundry!) some minor developmental delays
and funky head shapes. It's amazing how much of a difference it makes when a
baby can't do tummy time. The girls were over 6 months old before they rolled
over and nearly 12 months before they crawled. Dani started walking at 15
months and Alli at 16 months. The girls were briefly in helmets to try to
correct their head shapes but they had a bad skin reaction to something in the
helmet padding so we gave up. Fortunately they finally have some hair to cover
it now so it's not real noticeable. I'm looking forward to when they've got
enough hair to play with, but in the meantime they're rocking the pebbles hair
do.
We were surprisingly good about keeping up with the girls' monthly pictures
with their teddy bear.
Alli
Dani
Together
This is them on their 18 month birthday - Alli left, Dani right
I can laugh now that the girls seem to be past it, but they
wanted nothing to do with each other for a long time. I'd hear other twin moms
talk about how much their twins needed each other and couldn't bear to be apart
and that was just not something I could relate to. Alli & Dani would go so
far as to look in the other direction when we'd try to get them to face each
other. At 15 months they suddenly decided that they're friends and now spend
most of the day following each other around. They crack each other up. I rarely can catch it on video, but just about daily they run off to play by themselves and I hear them chattering and laughing together. Here is a video from back in March. I was doing laundry and heard them laughing in the next room. They were in the dark but kept it up even after I turned the lights on... Who needs toys when you have each other?
I'm constantly amazed by how 2 little girls that look so
much alike can have such different personalities. There are some similarities
though. They're both generally pretty happy toddlers. They love to laugh and
play peek-a-boo.
Alli is my little love bug. She regularly stops playing so
she can give me a big hug and then goes back to what she's doing. She loves jewelry. She always notices when I
have something new (or new to her) on, usually within the first minute of
seeing me. I let her wear a necklace a couple months ago (only briefly and
didn't let her out of my sight) and ever since she tries to turn just about
anything into jewelry. Several of her baby toys have now become bracelets and
anything that will hang around her neck is a makeshift necklace. Yesterday it
was a shirt from the hamper and the day before she was wearing a pacifier on a
string as a necklace. She also loves electronics and can do things with the dvr
box and receiver that I didn't know were
even possible without having the remote out. She has figured out how to use the
remote too, but that's another story.
Dani is my helper. Dishes, laundry, vacuuming, you name it,
she wants to be right there with me helping. She'll go get clean clothes out of her dresser and drop them in my pile of dirty clothes while I'm sorting. One of her favorite things to do right
now is to fill drawers and cabinets. Today she packed a shelf in the buffet in
our dining room with sippy cups, a pot lid, candles, and blocks. She is like a
little squirrel. She has hiding places all over the house where she likes to
stash her stuff and she gets mad if it's not still there when she goes back for
it. At least she frequents the same spots so I know where to look when things
go missing. She loves purses and carrying things around with her. She has a
little bucket that blocks go in that she has been using as a purse this week.
At one point today it was filled with my cell phone, play keys, and a cup. Not
too far off from what my purse looks like these days... She is attached to me
but isn't near as affectionate as Alli. Luke is her favorite right now and as soon as he gets home from work she starts following him around.
I'm sure I could spend days on this update but this is all
the time I have for now....I'm hoping to get back to posting more regularly,
but no promises.
