16 Months… Ten things:
Quick update… ten things style. I will post a full photo update tonight.
1) Harlowe sometimes calls sister, Ainsley (aimslee)… At least we heard it once/twice. Ainsley identifies sister with pointing at Harlowe emphatically when asked or by saying lolo…
2) Girls love playdough… I made some homemade dough and the girls spent over an hour sorting, combining, stacking and only attempted eating a few times. Total success!
3) Harlowe learned the word ladybug… and it almost makes me want to cry, it’s so adorable. I have it on video and will work on posting soon. Ainsley says it now too… How is that word so cute.
4) Ainsley is picking up signs at a rapid pace and is also repeating tons. Her favorites are, ladybug, star, tree, butterfly and dog. Harlowe is starting to incorporate more spoken words but still falls back on signing. She seems to refer to herself as mama-baby… which is absolutely adorable. When sad… she will start tearing up, run for a mama, plop down in mama’s lap and repeat over and over mamas-baby. So sweet. Girls love sissing at the cat… which they picked up from us and they will both chase kitty around making a sissing sound. They breaking into laughter. Oops we must be more careful!
5) They’re really starting to understand broader concepts and you can see them piecing everything together. They expect consistency and know when things aren’t as they should be.
6) I’m officially only nursing one baby… It feels so different. My body was so familiar with tandem feeding that I kind of feel like an imposter only nursing one baby. Ainsley is IN CHARGE of nursing and she knows it. We nurse 3 times a day. Morning, when I get home from work and bedtime.
7) Ainsley is becoming quite spirited… The girl is committed and tantrums are sprouting up all over. I’m proud of her strong will but wow how do we curb these… without discouraging her independence and conviction?
8) We put up a Christmas tree and the girls love it! Did you know they make shatter proof ornaments. We didn’t at first but caught on quickly – as the girls initially loved removing balls and throwing them across the room. Luckily this activity was short lived and now they just point, sign tree or help and say ball constantly.
9) Girls love the pets so much… but wow are the pets driving us crazy! Favorite activity for the girls has been feeding the dogs snacks… Which we strongly don’t allow… We are getting tired of telling babies no and then telling the dogs no.
10) They’re making new friends, going on regular playdates and generally becoming little social beings. It’s exciting and scary! They seem to be leaving all their babyness behind them and moving forward full force. We had our first trip to the ER this weekend and one unexpected sweet occurrence was how cuddly both girls were. It was bedtime when we went and Harlowe was cuddly because she wasn’t feeling well but Ainsley passed out in Jen’s arms which hasn’t happened in over a year. So sweet.
Oh the ‘mama’s-baby’ bit made me melt!