Seventeen Months

Duet in Twin Minor.

I know, I know. I'm late on the monthly twin post! I'll make it up in photos, I promise.

Lots of changes, some big and some small. Logan continues to be musically inclined.

"Doe! A deer! A female deer!"

He continues to inhale food, depending on his mood. He really really likes fresh bread.

Logan gives rye bread his seal of approval.

Unfortunately, he continues to be difficult to put down on the floor. Is it the crumbs? Those are your own fault, buddy!

"Ehn!" A facial expression and a sound I see and hear way too often.

Emma has also been taking up the Never Put Me Down song of suffering as well. I tried to photograph her distraught face for you but she moved, instead you have a sweet bread chewing face.

How can you look at a face this sweet and want to put me down?!

The twins are very interested in books and reading and will sometimes allow you to actually read to them. Sometimes. Other times they just pull the book out of your hand and wander off with it, "read" it to themselves, switch it for the other twin's book or hand it to the other parent for reading. You never know. Many thanks to Heather for the new pile of books!

"Hmm...bahhh-deee book. Babies!"

Emma and Logan have been turning into chipmunks recently around snack time. They fill their cheek pouches full of food and hold food there unless you make them a better offer.

Don't make them a better offer. They'll just spit out what's currently in there to get to your new offering.

Food and books! Double yum!

They've been really interested in trying to feed themselves which is...um...kind of nice? Mostly it makes me insane if there's oatmeal involved. Goo everywhere! Aiiieee! They do pretty well with forks, if we're having pasta. You can never give just one a fork or spoon, though. Don't even think it.

Emma likes full service dining, while Logan is engaging in self-serve in the background.

I noticed the other day that Emma is finally cutting more teeth (Top pair on either side of her front teeth.). I think Logan may be as well, but he didn't let me pry his jaws open and take a look around. I don't know if that's why they seem more clingy or if that's just my imagination, but it's possible that teething very slowly still hurts, just over a longer time period.

[The rest of the photos are from our last trip into the mountains. The trip that convinced us that we're flying to NYC for my sister's wedding. Five hours in the car was too much.]

Photographic evidence that I still exist.

The twins have been getting into a lot of stuff recently. Emma is becoming more and more monkey-like - I caught her on top of the toy oven that Aunt Jenni bought Caitlin when she was three. She has figured out how to climb into and out of most chairs, but the sofa still seems beyond her grasp. Logan is not far behind. He just figured out how to get in and out of Caitlin's bathtub by himself. Clearly another reason we keep that door shut when they're awake.

Logan has also discovered that he can lift the toilet seat up. Oh and look! Water to splash in! Whee!

Aiiee!

Eric pointed out something interesting earlier today: we're at one of the most stressful points of baby-hood. They are fully mobile without the ability to fully communicate and are not potty trained. So we get a lot of the Ehn! face pictured above and screaming. While the twins are clearly demonstrating they have wants they aren't clear on just what it is that they want. Mostly they want to be held every single minute of the day.

Argh!

Logan repeats an iconic shot from Eric's childhood with Grampy's headphones.

One change that has happened slowly that Eric just pointed out today is that Logan no longer screams like you're killing him when you change his diaper. He still will try to roll over and escape, but he doesn't deafen you as he does it. Perhaps he's finally figured out that clean butt = happy butt?

Reading with Grampy. Logan was attached to Grampy at all times during this visit.

Emma is definitely ahead of Logan on picking up speech. Today, after finishing off frozen blueberries, Logan came to me and indicated that he wanted more. I gave him the sign for "all done" and then offered him canned peaches that Heather had made. When I pulled the jar out, the twins both got excited and Emma started saying "Pee! Pee!". We had to work on that and Eric and I kept prompting her to say peeee-chhh. Pretty soon, she was saying it! Logan was too busy stuffing his cheeks to care.

Grammy was jealous of all of the Logan/Grampy photos and wanted photographic proof that she held Logan at least once while we were visiting.

Logan is big into dancing. I wish I had a photo of that, but it's just a blurry shot of him with his cheeks full of food and a weird facial expression. Then again, boys often look funny while dancing....

He loves to dance and will start dancing as soon as he hears music. He indicates he wants music by Ehn!-ing at the CD player to get us to turn it on. He and Emma then will dance around the room with Caitlin and grin from ear to ear. They also like climbing into the empty tub and dancing there, too.

Don't ask why. I don't know.

Rest assured, however, that it's cute.

Emma and Aunt Jenni reading.

Here's something Logan learned away from home:

Boozin' it up with Grampy.

That little lush!

By the way, my son has now officially had more beer in his lifetime than I have had in mine.

I'm so not making that up.

Upon listening to everyone's winter blues advice (Get out of the house! Take vitamins! Get more sun!) we've been out for walks with the twins (and Caitlin when she's home) and we've gone to the park. The twins have discovered they love the slide and both said "Whee!" at the end of the run. They also liked the swings, although Emma needed a second try before she started "Whee!"-ing.

Emma also liked the chance to climb all over stuff and not get in trouble. She went right up the side of a plastic climby bit, but then couldn't make it onto the platform. They also liked the lop-sided spinny egg cup thingy, but I didn't. I haven't been that dizzy in ages and it made me frankly nauseous. Bleah!

I have to tell you, though, that trying to keep both of them in view or on a piece of equipment is almost impossible for one person. I could put one twin on the slide, but then the other would wander off. Fortunately Eric was with me, but Caitlin also needed attention, stretching our attention. I'm not sure how I'm going to do this on my own should the occasion arise.

It's been a hard winter for me, emotionally, as I've mentioned before. I do feel a bit better since getting outside more, even if it's just for a little while and taking my vitamins again. It's funny how you never really think about needing sunlight, but you really do.

The twins remain terribly, terribly cute. They're getting bigger every day (Although Emma is now obviously taller than Logan by at least two inches.) and funnier. They like giving kisses now, instead of just blowing them and will lean over and kiss one another while they're supposed to be nursing (Yes, we're still nursing. It's going pretty well, actually, and no one is more amazed than I am that we're still nursing.) as well as beeping the other's nose.

Or mine.

Or giving me kisses.

They often point out babies when we're in public. Seeing their own reflection in glass or metal or mirror is enough to get the cry of "Baby!" going from either of them. They will also point to the other twin and yell "Baby!", but never refer to the other as Emma or Logan, just baby. Funny, that.

When tired, they will lay their weary heads down on your shoulder in such a way that your heart can't help but melt. They will sign when they're tired most of the time and will curl up with their blankets for naps. Unless they're overtired in which case, their cribs are lava and you are evil, horrible and terrible for putting them down for a nap. How could you possibly think they were tir--

Thud!

The screaming of overtired babies is the hardest part to live through. It sets my teeth on edge and makes me feel crazy. Bedtime is often the worst time of day around here. We've been trying to get them to bed earlier so that Eric and I can eat dinner with Caitlin without screamy babies sitting in our laps.

We dream of the day when we can eat our own meals without anyone else sitting on our laps.

One day....

So if you ever want to visit during dinner, be prepared to share your seat and your plate with someone small wearing footie PJs.

It's OK, they say they'll share their juice with you.

On that note, my friends, seventeen months! Can you believe it?!

Waiting for winter to end.

So small and yet so big.

How do they do that?!