The Crawdad Chronicles: 15/16 months old

Well...I started this post when the babies were 15 months old. Now they are 16 months old and it still hasn't been finished! Better late than never I guess. :)

The biggest thing that has happened with these two is that they are WALKING!!!! Andrew took his first steps a couple of days before he turned 15 months. He seemed way ahead in this milestone but not to be outdone, Miss Priss about a week later decided she wanted to walk too. Walking is always an exciting and big milestone for kids but as I remembered one grim conversation with a doctor in the first 24 hours after the babies were born and him explaining that they may have long term problems that would make it very difficult or even impossible to learn to walk I can't tell you how thrilled I was that they are walking and in the normal time frame of development. God is so good! In the month following that they have both become much better at walking. They still crawl periodically but walk a lot and it is hilarious to see them toddling around after each other. James and Harrison have been constant cheerleaders for them with encouraging them to walk and it's been sweet to me to see how thrilled James and Harrison are as each baby continues to hit new milestones. This has definitely upped the chaos in the house. Walking, climbing, pulling stuff out, eating random inedible objects. I could go on and on. I will say that twins at this age make me feel very outnumbered most days.

We had their 15 month doctor's appointment and I made the mistake again of going alone. It is pitiful when they get their shots and you can't hold and comfort them both at the same time but we survived!

Andrew: 26 pounds 10 ounces, 30 3/4 inches long

Kate- 22 pounds, 10 ounces, 29 inches long

They are both getting so big and heavy! I have a really hard time picking them both up and carrying them very far. Fingers crossed that soon they will be walking well enough that I won't have to as much.

Andrew- You have seriously got the best smile ever! I may have written that on another post but it is the truth; it is hard to be sad around you. You are happy and carefree and very independent. When you walk you think it is the funniest thing ever and you always laugh out loud and get so excited. You are our most adventurous child by far. If I am sitting on the floor you love to run and nosedive onto me, even if my lap is already occupied. You love to do flips and tricks and climb and you already wrestle with your big brothers. They love having you in the mix! You have learned how to open all of our doors and daddy found you on the top step of the garage one day. We have since learned to use the dead bolt all the time! You keep us on our toes and we all love you so much.

Kate- you are so funny with the expressions you give us. Sometimes you look so serious; I tell everyone you have to work for your love, you aren't going to just hand it out. We love how you always make your opinion known, whether it's a screech when Andrew takes something of yours or pointing at whatever you want until someone caves and gives it to you. You run the roost and you know it! You are my cuddler, my child who likes to be held and you do this funny thing where you reach for us and do something silly with your hands to say you want to be picked up. It is so cute that it is hard to resist. You love to pretend to clean. I find you taking baby wipes and paper towels all over the house and cleaning things with them. You are obsessed with shoes. Somehow you learned to blow your nose on command which I find hilarious at this age. You older brothers are obsessed with you, they love you so much!

Both of you love to brush your teeth and say "Ahhh". You each have eight teeth, four on top and four on the bottom. Food is a serious pleasure for both of you and you both eat a TON. Some foods you both enjoy but there are some that you are both very picky about. For instance Andrew loves blueberries and Kate likes broccoli but don't ever expect Andrew to eat broccoli or Kate to eat a blueberry and you make that very clear when you see a food that you don't like on your plate. For the most part you are both by far the best eaters in the family. Words you both say: mama, dada, bye bye, uh-oh, ball, and then Kate also says diaper "biper". Both of you are learning baby sign language: more, eat, all done and we are working on please. Neither of you loves to be put in the car seat (shock shock, that's four out of four kids that hate car travel for the first few years of life) Both of you will freely reach for daddy even when I'm holding you. You love him so much! You both still take two naps most days and for the most part sleep 12 hours a night which is amazing!!! You bring so much joy to our lives and we are thankful for each of you!