My sweet boys turned 1 a little over a week ago. I'm not going to lie, there were a lot of tears. From me of course. They were fine with it. We started the morning by singing Happy Birthday to them as we picked them up from their cribs, and they looked at us like we were crazy, but I'm sure in the next three to five years they'll learn to love it. We then brought them out to the living room to show them their big birthday balloons before having their morning bottles. In our family it is a tradition to find the biggest, most obnoxious balloons possible for birthdays and we hope it's something they'll look forward to as well as they grow older. Matt and I love it! The rest of the day continued on as normal with meals and naps and playtime. My mom had come into town a few days early for their party and she made them a birthday apple pie, which they were very excited about after the first bite. In all, it was a very sweet day and I am so grateful to have two precious boys fill my arms with love!
At 1-year-old these boys are very busy. No one is walking yet but Lucas is getting closer every day and Andrew is only a few steps behind his brother, until then they speed crawl around after one another. They are working on saying real words but have plenty in their own language, which they speak nonstop to one another and themselves. Andrew likes to say "num-num" for food and eating, and has his own dialect when signing "all done." He can also sign "milk." He knows how to make monkey sounds when he is talking about or looking for his favorite Monkey Wubba-Nub paci. Besides that he babbles in consonants all the time and usually at a higher octave and volume than Lucas. He will tell you full stories and have full conversations with you, none of which you will understand. :) Lucas usually has his little index finger sticking out and is pointing at things he wants you to tell him about or get for him. He then proceeds to tell you his thoughts about that item, which you also will not understand. His dialect for signing "more" looks more like clapping (and P.S. can we talk about how cute it is to hear pudgy little hands slapping together!?) but I think as his fine motor skills develop he will get the hang of it. He also loves to practice his consonant sounds. Lucas seems to be working on saying "dog" and Andrew seems to be working on saying "uh oh" and "all done" and "whoa!" Both boys are still working on waving and I see signs of waving popping through now and again but it's not consistent yet. They do love to give a good high five though!
Lucas loves to move his body. He is constantly wiggling, crawling, rolling, bouncing, and cruising. He likes to throw himself across your lap and snuggle, or lay on his tummy and play with a toy. He also likes to turn pages in books. Andrew loves to be held and snuggled and have your individual attention. He likes to sit on your lap with his Monkey in hand or mouth and be read to, as well as drive toys and trucks around the room. He also likes to cruise around and he and Lucas love to play together, chasing each other around and playing peek-a-boo. This last month they started crawling with objects in their hands, which I love, as well as standing up in the tub, which I don't love. Bath time is still a favorite time of the day. Splashing and playing with toys and trying to eat bubbles are all a big hit every night.
When it comes to eating, Lucas hasn't met a food he doesn't like and will eat until you take his tray away. Andrew on the other hand is a little more selective and certainly prefers the carbs! They are both getting pretty good at drinking from a cup and we are making the transition from formula to whole milk. I am sure that I will be sad to officially be done with bottles someday but right now I am a little over their million parts to wash and put together each day (to be fair, Matt is the bottle washer every night when he is home - I love it!). Both boys are working on using a spoon and are pretty successful so long as mom doesn't put too much food on it but mainly they shovel food in with their hands. We have been trying to go to restaurants more often lately and they have been doing really well with eating, keeping (relatively) quiet, and of course, charming the pants off of people we meet. Several times we have been told what good babies they are and it is ALWAYS rewarding to hear that- especially when struggling to teach
two little ones how to behave in public. Other activities we do together are going to the library, going to the park, shopping, and playing with friends.
After a long time of cute, gummy-mouthed babies, we had an explosion of teething start around 10 to 11-months. Lucas now has his two bottom teeth and his two top teeth just broke through. Andrew has his two bottom teeth, two top teeth, and two more top teeth are starting to break through. With all this teething and beginning of talking and getting ready to walk, neither boy has been sleeping very well. Which means momma and daddy are taking turns or both up with a baby almost every night these last weeks. It also means many tears during the day, which can also include momma as she tries to juggle soothing two babies who do not want to share her.
We feel as if the days and nights are long at times, but the year has been short! Could it be just a year ago we were figuring out holding and feeding and burping and changing two, tiny little 5 pound babies?! We are so in love with our miracle babies and thank God for them everyday!
Pictures from the last month:
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| Lucas playing with a bowling set my mom sent the boys |
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| Enjoying our first fire in the fireplace! |
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| Cousin's Chelsey, Jonathan, and Aiden came to stay! |
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| Andrew |
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| Lucas |
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| Reading our Christmas and Winter books |
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| Happy 1st birthday! |
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| Andrew seeing the birthday party decorations for the first time |
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| "Wow mom! These balloons are as big as us!" |
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| Birthday apple pie! |
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| Singing "Happy birthday!" |
Here are some videos:
Matt playing catch with the babies
Playing with their birthday balloons
Andrew with the walker
And this video was too long to upload here so you can watch it on my personal YouTube site:
