The Mountain Millers: Twins -- One Year

Sunday, January 29, 2017

Twins -- One Year

Howard and Caroline turned one year old on January 1st... and I officially missed their growth update for 11 months. I'm sorry, children. I really tried my best.

For comparison... here is Tracey at eleven months:

And here are the twins from every month from our first year:
Twins at twelve months:

Twins at eleven months:

Twins at ten months:

Twins at nine months:

Twins at eight months:

Twins at seven months:

Twins at six months:

Twins at five months:

Twins at four months:

Twins at three months:

Twins at two months:

Twins at one month:

Twins as newborns:

Weight:

At their one-year-old check ups, Howard weighed 21 pounds 15 ounces and Caroline weighed 21 pounds 5 ounces. Caroline feels so much lighter than Howard, but at every appointment, she shows that she is healthy and growing, and just as meaty as her brother.

Length:

Howard is 2'6" and Caroline is 2'4".

Clothing size:

Howard wears 18-24 month clothes and some 12 month pants still although those are getting pretty snug,
and Caroline wears 12-18 month clothes.

Eating:

Three meals a day, and they eat whatever the family eats. Actually, they are much better eaters than Tracey these days, who is in the throws of toddler picky eating. Howard and Caroline eat anything we put in front of them... and Howard usually finishes whatever Caroline doesn't eat. They drink out of Tracey's sippy cups, and drink cow's milk throughout the day. They still nurse before their nap and before bed.

Sleeping:

Oh, I am so proud of us -- one nap each day, and sleeping through the night (pretty much). They nap from 11:00-1:30 or 2:00, or later and then are in bed for the night at 7:00pm. Caroline usually wakes up around 4:00am to nurse but then they both sleep until 7 or 8am. If I could get Caroline off that 4:00am habit, we would be in heaven!

New things/discoveries/accomplishments:

Both babies can crawl up and down stairs pretty safely on their own
Howard can say a few words, "Dada" (Daddy), "Lala" (Lexie), "Ba-oo" (Balloon), "Ba-ba" (Bye-bye), "Mama" as of a day ago, and pretty much imitates any sound he hears Tracey say
Both babies can throw -- Howard LOVES to throw and has done it for about six weeks. Caroline watched him throw balls for about a month and then decided that she wanted to play too. Now they both throw balls (and sometimes other toys) and can even play catch with each other when they're in the mood.
Howard and Caroline can each walk while they're holding on to things... Howard is notorious for using Caroline for balance while he's trying to walk and that usually doesn't go over very well. They also walk all over holding on to furniture. As of a few days ago, Howard has taken two steps without support, on several occasions, but its hard to repeat.
Both babies had their first Christmas... which didn't go according to plan, but it was a Merry Christmas nonetheless

Personalities:

Howard is such a thinker. He wants to do anything he sees someone else doing. The kids got a car track for Christmas, and it took him about two hours of watching Tracey playing with cars on the track for him to figure out how to put them on himself for them to zoom down the hill. He also loves to laugh. He laughs when he's tickled, he laughs at Tracey, sometimes in the car he just laughs at life. He is also such a boy -- he loves to drop food on the ground to watch it fall, he loves to spit food and drinks out of his mouth, he laughs hysterically when Tracey spits water out of her mouth, he loves anything that can make a loud banging noise. Lately he has decided he is afraid of Lloyd's barking. Whenever Lloyd barks, he crawls to me as fast as he can. If he can get to me, he is okay, but if he can't find me or thinks I'm too far away, he get pretty upset. Also, this kid is sharp... anything that Tracey or I do, he wants to try as soon as possible. If Tracey raises her hand when I say, "Who would like some rice?", Howard raises his hand. If Tracey puts a car at the top of the car track, Howard stands up to make sure he puts a car at the top of the racetrack. This little boy is sharp.
Caroline is so adorable and sweet and she loves Tracey. She keep up with both Howard and Caroline, but isn't afraid to do her own thing and play alone. She likes to blow raspberries usually when she realizes that Tracey and Howard are spitting at each other and laughing, she chimes in with raspberries. She loves to cuddle with anyone (from Tracey to her great grandparents). She isn't talking yet, but she calls a lot of things "dada" or "tis" (which I think she might be imitating the word "this". She is starting to bite a lot of things these days, and she is cutting several more teeth, but we are having to work on not biting people, siblings, parents, fingers, and herself. She loves to lay back in the bathtub so that her head is on the floor and the water comes up over her ears so that just her little face is above water. She smiles and laugh and is so relaxed in this position, which (as a mother who love baths) I find so endearing. She loves to do everything that Howard does, but she does it in her own time -- she usually watches him for a few days (maybe to watch how its done or see if he hurts himself doing it) and then tries it herself. Also, lately, she has started hanging her head whenever she cries. If she is fussy and we pick her up, but then have to set her back down for a moment, she just drops her chin to her chest and sobs. It is really sad, but it is also incredibly adorable.

Likes:

Playing with each other
Laughing together
Pacifiers
Nursing
Solid food
Bath time together
Playing Peek-a-Boo
Playing with Tracey
Tracey's bedroom
Lloyd's water dish
Being tickled
Standing and walking with toys
Lexie and Lloyd
Electrical cords
Cupboards
Looking out windows
Toilet paper rolls
Stairs
Windows
Throwing balls (and sometimes other things)
Pulling hair (mine or Tracey's)
They like a lot of things...

Dislikes:

Being sick
Being bitten
Being reprimanded
Falling off of furniture

Special Memories:

Their first Christmas (even if it was unexpectedly in St. Louis while under quarantine because the entire family had the stomach flu)
First time meeting Santa Claus
First time attending the Rifle Christmas Light Parade
First birthday party with St. Louis family
Getting professional pictures taken with our St. Louis family (with seven cousins under age four... it was an adventure)
First Christmas tree -- complete with a gate around it all month
Time with family and cousins in St. Louis before Christmas (when we were healthy)
An impromptu trip to Michigan where we got to see Grammie and Papa's new house