All Things Haley: 15 Months!

So, we're a day early on the 15 months, but we're a day late on the weekly post...so I figured today was a good compromise.

I cannot for the life of me fathom that my tiny little babies are 15 months old tomorrow. It's disturbing and amazing all at once.

I remember when they were about two months old, and still so very tiny in their own right, when I thought that I would only be able to think of them as these tiny little creatures, completely helpless. I said that they could never be anything other than those little infants in my eyes. Even as they grew, I thought for sure I would still envision their tiny baby selves and remember back to those days of constant feedings and never-ending pumping. I thought that they would be that needy forever.

Today, my children are rambunctious toddlers and I can hardly remember their tiny baby smell or the way their mouths puckered as they yawned those early newborn yawns. It's amazing how each phase takes over the last and our memories are engulfed by new personalities and new lifetimes.

It's been a lifetime of memories since that late night in the hospital and early morning welcoming our twins. It's been a lifetime of phases and challenges and hiccups and giggles.

But we're only 15 months in.

How did I get so lucky?

So today I mark their 15 month milestone with a recap of some of the goings-on for my littles...

Gracie Mae:

Miss Grace, you are a toddler in every single sense of the word. You are a handful and a complete heartful, and I love you for all of it. You challenge me and you overwhelm me at the same time that you're melting my heart and growing it exponentially. You, my daughter, are a tiny version of me, I'm sure. I know that my parents didn't have it easy...but I'm sure it was full of entertainment!

Ladybug, you're taking every opportunity that you can to test your boundaries and then try to expand them. You're a spotlight stealer and you need everyone to know it...especially your brother. You don't love it when I'm spending too much time focused on him.

Your walking has turned into this adorable trot most of the time as you're eager to get from one place to the next. When new people meet you, they tend to say that you're "busy" or "spirited"...and I say that you're "mini-Mommy". You will cuddle with us right after you wake up from a nap or for the morning, but aside from that, you're only true goal when you're desperate to get up into our laps is to tackle the couch and bounce all along it as you watch me for disapproval. When you hear me say "No no!" as you jump on the furniture or steal your brother's binky or throw toys at the cat, you typically smile and then try to start all over again. You absolutely understand what the word "No" means, and you like to find out just how many times you can hear it in a day!

But you also listen, and observe, and study. You watch what we do and you learn non-stop. You've mastered your toddler body better than I think natural, and you LOVE to try to climb on things and balance yourself atop unstable objects. That's your absolute favorite passtime. And it's Mommy's least favorite, that's for sure.

You also adore books- watching us read them to you, pretending to read them to yourself, flipping the pages faster than I can keep up with, and throwing them at your brother. You've moved away from chewing on them, but you couldn't be happier when you find one that has paper pages rather than board pages, because you adore tearing paper!

Daddy is your tickle monster and your confidence booster. You look to him to confirm your awesomeness pretty much all the time. Just figured out how to stand on top of your sippy cup? Look at Daddy...what does he think? Just tackled the cat and ripped out some fur? Look to Daddy to make sure he's proud! Found a hidden binky under the couch covered in fuzz and something sticky? Stick it in your mouth and head over to Daddy to show him your treasure! Oh, and when you're feeling spunky, it's time to tackle Daddy and force him to tickle you with your adorable chuckle. Go ahead, he can't resist. Give him that laugh and he'll roll around on the floor and chase you for hours!

I am your comfort. You run to me when you hurt yourself or when Caleb is making you mad. You look to me when you can't find your toy or when your brother has taken yours. You tug on my pant leg when I get home from work and want to be held. I adore this and hope that it doesn't stop anytime soon!

You sleep with three binkies. One in your mouth and one in each hand. I tried, so hard, to get you to love a blankie or a stuffed animal...something a little less embarrassing than three pacifiers. But you have decided, it's three binkies or you'll be up all night and all day. Thus, your "lovie" is a giant bunch of binkies (if we'd allow it, you'd carry five or six binkies around all day...shoving extras into your armpits for safe keeping).

You are becoming a picky eater when you feel like it, and I have begun entertaining you to trick you into eating. It's not a healthy activity, I'm sure. But if I cheer super loud after you've taken a bite, you'll take another bite. Probably some serious food issues in the making....I'm sorry baby.

You are sleeping through the night most of the time, unless there is something bothering you. You recently cut two new teeth and you have two more waiting in the wings. With only four teeth actually cut, you've got a long way to go baby girl. It's gonna be a rough year of teething I think.

You're in 12 month clothes for the most part, although your skinny little frame can fit into 3 month pants...you just rock them like capris cuz you're awesome like that. Oh, but your feet are growing faster than your brothers. You are in size 4 shoes, almost size 5.

You're an absolute blast to watch and a complete energy drain...I'm the happiest exhausted person I know. Thank you for showing me how to enjoy the little things, like throwing yourself full force into a giant teddy bear! You laughed for ten minutes straight!

Caleb:

Mr. Caleb, you're such a sweetheart. You're a lover and a cuddler and now that you're mobile, you're a little explorer too! You will sit and play with one toy for quite some time, get your fill of flicking it and spinning it, and then move onto the next toy- usually one that your sister has. You both love anything that the other is playing with, even if it's a toy you never would have considered alone. Recently, you've begun to explore new ways to play with toys, like pushing them a bit on the floor, or banging them into another toy to make a noise! Great work, little dude! I'm so proud!!!

You're quite the eater and you'll scarf down just about anything we put in front of you. You get distracted easily during meal times, mainly because Grace is putting on a show. But if I can get your attention, you will eat and eat and eat! It's so nice to have such an easy going eater. Your favorite food is Kix cereal, but you love all deli meat, veggies of all kinds, pretty much any fruit, cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, cheerios, wheat puffs, eggs, and whatever Papa cooks! :)

Your favorite activity is standing with Mommy or Daddy, and you love to practice walking right now. I can't tell you how happy this makes me, because for a while there, you just wanted to stand and not step. Your steps are getting more purposeful and coordinated- I think you'll be walking before you're two!!!

You also love to pull up on the furniture and get onto your knees. You haven't pulled up to your feet yet, but you keep trying. Those darn shoes get in the way and make it tough to get your feet out from under you, but keep working at it little man. You'll get it soon!

You're still a teething fiend and you drool and chew on pretty much anything and everyone. The worst is when I raise you up over my head and get a faceful of drool when I look up at you. Then again, it always makes for a good laugh- and you seem to like it!

Therapies are going well- you have a fantastic Occupational Therapist down in our new town and she seems to think you're pretty stellar as well. You also have a new Developmental Specialist who focuses on your total development, tying it all together for us! Soon to come: Speech Therapy and Physical Therapy again- we need to keep working with you on the ball in the meantime. Bad Mommy for slacking off!
Night times are completely hit or miss for you, little guy. You slept through the night last night, 7:45pm-7:15am when I woke you up!!! This made your Mommy a VERY happy lady!!! Of course, yesterday you woke up at 5am...so who knows. But it's getting better, and we're happy with that. Your "lovie" is your big blanket right now. You sleep with a binky (just one!) and your sock monkey is always nearby, but you don't seem all too interested. We'll see what happens over the next few months.

You, my little man, are a big dude. You're wearing out your 18 month clothes and closing in on needing 24 month stuff. This makes me pretty sad because the 24 month and 2T clothes all seem so "big-kid"ish. They have bikes on them and skate boards. I'm still wanting to put you in puppy dogs and sail boats... I guess Mommy needs to get on board, you're growing up SO fast!

Oh, and did I mention that you're around 30lbs? Yeah, my arms are tired! ;)

You are the happiest baby most of the time. As long as you don't have a tooth coming in, or a sore tummy, you are as happy as can be. You are crawling super fast now, so when you see something you want and go get it, you get this big proud grin on your face. I know you waited a long time to be able to do that! I'm sure it feels good!!

My favorite thing with you is bedtime. I still put you to sleep, just like when you were colicky and a few months old. After bath or dinner, I put on a clean diaper, and get out the lotion. I love doing your baby massage! You get nice and calm and I usually sing you our lullaby. You'll stare up at me and I can see you start to relax and get ready to go to bed. Sometimes you'll fight me when I get you all ready and in your PJs, you know that it's time to go to your crib. But usually you'll just lie in my arms and start to get drowsy. It's an incredibly peaceful few minutes in our hectic day, and I love spending some one on one time with my baby boy.

Oh 15 months. I don't know why this feels so big- like my two are now fully toddlers. It's been such a ride, these past 15 months. What will the next 15 bring???

Yay Stanford!

Grace has been loving her plastic fork. She tries to feed me anything and everything thing, like scooping a book and feeding it to me. Or a diaper...clean at least!