18 months and thriving

Have you seen these girls at Walmart?

So, the girls had their 18 month check-up the other day.  The little sluggers weigh in at 24 and 25 lbs (~50th-percentile), and are 32.5" tall (~75th-percentile).

The pediatrician gave us a gentle slap on the wrist for our feeding practices.  Before the check-up, meal time was slowly becoming a game of "distract the toddler with toys and TV while we try and feed them".  This resulted in the girls sitting in the high chair for about an hour every meal.  Now, we have completely cut off any TV, minimized toys, and reduced meal time to 30 minutes.  So, sometimes the girls end up leaving the high chair having eaten very little, but in the peditrician's words: "they have enough reserves".  I think it's just because they were wearing a small shirt and their belly was sticking out.

In other news, the girls are taking advantage of the nice weather we've been having.  We recently got them a bouncy castle, a slide, and a water table: the start to our backyard playground.  The girls are getting really good at climbing up and sliding down the slide.  They're also great at spilling all the water out of the water table and onto their clothes.

Bug ridin' in the park

Too tired: couldn't wait until we lifted them into bed

Goofballs

Just wanted to do a quick up date on the girls.

The girls decided to get into the crossfire the other day without any help and Naomi took the driver seat while Keira took the passenger seat! 

The girls are also doing some really goofball stuff and we captured it on video! They babble lots to each other, do silly faces and dance moves. Here's a cute video of them.




We also spoiled the girls and bought them a bouncy castle so that they could jump and slide in the backyard.  I can't wait until the summer when the girls' friend's come over for a bouncy castle party.  Lots of fun for years to come:)




I bought the girls some 'Mini pas' shoes, I had no idea that they were soo popular.  I'm so glad I found these shoes at a used kids sale, its a hit with the girls.  They love walking in them!!



As you can see, my house is like a daycare, I tried to get rid of toys on a monthly basis, by selling or giving them away but it doesn't make a difference. I have a daycare in my house!

On another random note, I just found out two of my girlfriends are having twins!!  AND one of my girlfriends used to be my best friend in elementary school!! I've known her since kindergarten. What are the chances?!!  Exciting times.

Easy Peasy..almost

The girls are approaching 18 months old..and getting really heavy, almost 24 lbs each.  Keira is only 1/2 lb different from Naomi now.. I attribute to Keira's growth spurt to a lot of asian meatballs and breakfast sausages.  All of their 18 month old sleepers have been stretched to the max too, yet the girls legs are still too short to wear the next size up.  Further, a lot of their shirts are belly poppers..I think the girls bodies are like Rick, they all have long torsos.

Naomi and Keira are starting to look out for each other. Its super cute.  They hug each other, play with the same toys at the request of the other twin, pretend to talk to each other on the phone, and oddly understand each other with their babbles. For example, Naomi noticed her sister was crying today at the gym but couldn't see her, so she started looking for her in a worried manner.  On another occasion, Keira started crying playing with a toy, so Naomi tried to comfort her by hugging her!! Super cute.

Today we had an awesome playtime day. It started off with the girls going to an indoor play gym in the morning, followed by playing in the deck, then eating almost naked in their highchairs, followed by a lot of walking around the park.  Keira loved the slides and Naomi loved venturing off in million directions.  I think she circled the park 3 or 4 times in a span of 20 minutes.  She is definitely not shy nor scared of adventure but Keira is much easier to take care of :)




Rick and I were just saying to each other how easy it is to take care of the girls now, and it only gets easier from here on!  I can't believe I'm saying it now.  The first year was definitely hard, in fact, tremendously chaotic, stressful, demanding, and exhausting, BUT I have two beautiful girls now, who are best buds for life, how can life get any better?!

A couple of clowns

The girls are almost 17 months old and are tons of fun. They're learning something new every day, so here's a few of the highlights that come to mind while writing this.

Above is a picture of the girls goofing around just before bed. One always tries to do what the other one is doing, and that night they were having a "hanging upside down" competition, which later turned into a head shaking competition, and then a jumping up and down competition. I eventually had to just say good night and leave them to their fun. They ended up jumping around, giggling, and screaming for another half hour before finally falling asleep.

Bath time is also tons of fun, but be prepared to get wet if you sit in the front row. Splash competitions! And they don't hold anything back. But it's hard not to laugh along with them when you see the giggle fit they get into when they're splashing.

Usually, when I get home, the girls get excited and try and climb the gate at the top of the stairs. Lately, they've also been adding a couple of twirls, mixed with screams and hand clapping. And today, when I got home, Naomi even did a little dance. Over the previous weekend I was able to catch some of their sweet dance moves on video.

More excitement to come! :)

Independence!

The girls are declaring independence!!  Lots of big changes are happening again.  I love it!  Just recently, they started understanding what Rick and I are saying!!  I have no idea how it started, it just happened in a span of a couple of weeks.  For example, if I say its time's up to eat, they start heading to their highchairs.  They also understand where their toes, ears, belly buttons are :) I love these changes.  I told Rick that the next two steps I'm looking forward too are: 1) they can go downstairs by themselves (they are getting way too heavy!!) 2) they can feed themselves

During their 15 month check up, they are average in height and weight BUT they are 97th percentile in head sizes.  So my girls have GIANT heads.  I expect big brains :)

As for eating, I'm getting super excited that they are eating more adult food.  Its a huge step for me since they throw up so easily when they don't like something...I think they are starting to grow out of it :)  They ate lasagna last night (and a portion size equivalent to an adult each) plus vegetables plus congee, WOW.  Rick has been doing a great job introducing new foods while I've been on travel, he's a great father and 'mother' while I'm away.  I'm very lucky.

Here are a couple of videos showing their independence!

Christmas Holidays!!!

 
 


We all flew home to Regina for the Christmas holidays.  The girls had a great time visiting their grandparents, uncle, aunt and close friends.  They also attended a great party at Lee's Chop Suey, celebrating my brother's marriage.  Although the focus of the party should have been on my brother, unfortunately, the girls stole the show as usual.  They loved toddling around the restaurant, batting their eyes at all the guests, saying hi and giggling.  They were having so much fun they didn't want to leave.  We had to drag them away from the restaurant.

The girls also loved spending an afternoon at Dino Bounce (a gym full of inflatable castles).  They loved going down the slide, and falling all over the place, but not getting hurt.  And mid way through their time there, they learned how to break free from the castle and roam around the place, chasing after other kids and butting in line.

Before leaving for holidays we took this video of the girls and their new hats:



And here's a video of the girls just before going to sleep on Christmas eve:

14 Months Old - Fully Weaned

Keira and Naomi are full fledged toddlers!  This stage is sooo much FUN!!  They get so excited just walking back and forth from the kitchen to the living room, blabbing and laughing.  I love watching them.  This is by far my favorite stage!!  They flap their arms like wings when they walk too and make each other laugh.  AND they are learning to share :)  They give each other toys, and don't fight as much. Here's a video of them doing their daily routine of walking:

Recently, they had their first hair cut.   It started with me doing a bad job of cutting their bangs.  Rick made an immediate appointment with a kids salon, he was so concerned with how the girls looked, wow! I've never seen him take  initiative so fast in my life!!

They are also fully weaned too!  It was time, they weren't interested anymore so it made sense and worked perfectly timing wise with me travelling up north for a week.  Rick did an excellent job of taking care of them and putting them to bed by him self.  He's a super dad!  

The girls have been vomiting a lot recently and I think its because I've been overfeeding them without realizing it. I still spoon feed them but I'm much more cautious now.  They girls are eating more and more table food, which makes life a lot easier!  They are also still on the chubby side despite the tremondous amount of vomiting, I have no idea how they still gain weight...Naomi is 22.5 lbs and Keira is 21.5 lbs :)  

My sister recently had to travel back home after an excellent extended visit to Ottawa. I've been super lucky to have all this help since I've been back to work!  AND I can't believe Rick is going to be off for almost two months very soon!  I'm soo jealous because the girls are extremely fun right now!!!