16 Month Update

Age: The babes were 16 months old on 18 January (14 months).

Height/Weight: Don't know - will take them for a measles booster when they are 18 months old as we didn't do the MMR so will weigh them then. I can definitely see they are getting taller from their clothes.

Developmental notes: They are changing every day - so amazing to watch. The holiday was great in that we got to catch up with all our friends and family and show off our twins, but it was restricted by their routine and difficult not being at home where it is so easy as everything is just perfectly organised and tuned to caring for two toddlers. Knysna was having a heatwave and it was hot and sticky and all we could think about was our new pool that had just been finished at home lol.  We had a few wonderful swims - Rebecca loves the water.  Finn does too but not as much. One evening we went down to watch the bag pipers play on the beach and they really enjoyed that.  We also took them to the Friday market and they were so social it was too cute. We had lovely swims in the river and late evening swims on Leisure Isle before bedtime.  Finn started aberating, waking up several times a night and as they were sharing a room I had to run to soothe him. One night I think the strained routine got too much for Becs and she went off the rails for an hour before bedtime. This could also have been due to the fact that on our return we saw that all four first molars had popped out all at once! Finn only has one!The drive there and back was actually not as bad as I thought it would be, they were such good babbas considering. I think we will wait until they are 3 years old before our next trip lol.

Both are walking really well.  Finn has started wanting to climb everything!! Both are gabbling away and some new words are "Oh wow, bye, tanku (thank you), car, hi, ball" Both dance to music. They clap hands and stamp feet to the song "If you're happy and you know it..." sometimes.

  
Eating: They are not mad for anything fishy or meaty.  Their favourite meal is fruit, rice, chicken, broccoli and cheese sauce. They eat well for breakfast and usually have 1/2 an avo, a banana, berries or another fruit, cheese on brown toast, scrambled egg and maybe a yoghurt as well. For lunch, they have meat, veg meal with fruit pouch or smoothie and then again for supper or oats, yoghurt and fruit for supper. For snacks they have rice cakes, wholemeal biscuits, dried fruit, biltong etc. They have water on hand all day and drink when thirsty.  No tea, no juice.  Just milk in the morning, water in the day and milk again before bedtime.

Sleep: Both are sleeping well for naps and at night.  They now nap from 10am-11am and 2pm-3pm. We bath at 6:30 and then bottle and into their cots awake with a kiss goodnight to go to sleep by 7pm.  When we got back from holiday we had let Finn CIO for a couple of nights but he is fine now.  Ocassionally he will wake crying but we leave it and see what happens before rushing in to soothe him.  They must learn to be able to fall back to sleep themselves.  We have decided to leave them in seperate rooms for now. Will see how it goes. I am already planning their room for when they move into big beds together - it is quite a large room and we will have the playroom on one side and their beds on the other.  It has doors leading out to a covered stoep where they can do art activities and other fun stuff. Can't wait to paint and decorate ;).

Favourite Things: Walking everywhere!!! Playing throw and catch with the ball. Pushing the carts around and the bikes. Tormenting the cat. We started bubble baths which they like and they still like showering with me.

Dislikes: They do fight a bit - Finn is quite rough with Becs - hitting her, pushing her over and so on.  She is getting good at avoiding this but every now and again he gets too rough with her.

Looking forward to: It all.

Mommy and Daddy musings: I know I say this on every update, but I am so so grateful to have been sent these two treasures. There has been such sadness on the forum recently and my heart gets so sore for all those still on the IF journey. Be strong and don't give up. There is no way to describe the power of this experience - it is worth all the suffering we went through. I wish this for every woman and I pray that that our two babies grow up safe and are always healthy and happy...always.