I don't think I can keep up with monthly updates anymore, but the babies are doing so many new things that I feel the need to document them! David and Claire are almost 14 months old, and they are learning so much each day! And wow are they fun! They are fun with us, they are fun with each other (which is seriously the cutest thing to watch EVER!), and they are fun with Lucas. Every night after all the kids have gone to sleep, Eric and I just gush about how adorable, sweet, and fun the babies and Lucas are right now! Sometimes we just can't believe how blessed we are!
It's pretty amazing how similar in their development David and Claire are with each other. For a while, Claire was working on her verbal skills while David was mastering his motor skills. Then, Claire started to do her motor thing (she became a walker about 2 weeks before David did) and David began saying words and phrases. And now, much of what they can do is similar. Pretty neat, actually!
David's biggest accomplishment since turning 1, is that he is a walker now! He had been working hard on his balance for weeks and would take several steps, and then everything seemed to just click the weekend of November 1st when we went down to Northern Virginia to visit the Millers. I wonder if being around 4 other little people who were all upright and walking gave him the confidence he needed?
David's words include mama, dada, hi, hello, uh-oh, and bye-bye. He will also say "hi mama" and "hi dada", appropriately. Just like Lucas at this age, he LOVES to wave while saying hi or bye-bye to people - especially in a shopping cart, but anywhere, really.
If he is told, "NO", David will shake is pointer finger back and forth, and smile :)
When asked, David can hug, kiss, tell you he is 1 by holding up one finger, do "so big". He waves and claps. He will point to his belly, head, hair, and mouth. If you ask him where someone in the room is, he will look at them while saying "Hi" and waving. It's very sweet!
He will do the signs for "more", "all done", and "milk".
Whenever Lucas starts to sing the "Hello" song from music class, David immediately says "hello" and starts clapping. He will also do the tempo chants from class - or the "ba ba bas", while patting his legs like we do with Miss Andrea from class.
Our good eater is finally getting picky. He can definitely consume a ton of food at a meal, but he's getting quite finicky with what he will and will not eat. Dinner is proving to be the most difficult since we eat dinner as a family and I serve the babies what Eric, Lucas and I are eating. The boy finally loves his milk and he is very good at using sign language to ask for it. About a week after they turned 1, they were completely bottle free!
David is also becoming such a clown! He makes us laugh constantly! And if you laugh at him, he will take that to mean that he should just continue to do whatever is that was making us laugh.
He also loves to put baskets on his head and hides underneath them. He stays very still (sometimes you can hear a snicker or giggle coming from underneath the basket). Then, after many a rendition of "Where'd David go?, he will pop out from under the basket with a huge smile on his face! Wash. Rinse. Repeat. He totally loves this new game, and so do we!
Claire is also doing stellar!
She became a full-time walker around October 17. Now, she is super steady, gets up to a stand from a squat like it's nothing, and is practically running!
Claire's words include, mama, dada, hello, bye-bye, night-night, uh-oh. She will say "hi dada", "all done", and "thank you" (while handing you something - I love when babies do this!). She is finally starting to use a few signs - "more" (though, she uses it for "I want") and "all done" (and usually she says the words "all done" while doing the sign). She also sings "E, I, E,I O" with the proper tune when ever we sing Old MacDonald! So adorable!
She wants to know what everything is. She's been pointing at objects saying "Dat?" for the last month or so.
Claire also got her first pro haircut on November 19. Well, they called it a "clean-up", and it's usually just for boys, but she qualified since she doesn't have a ton of hair. It was growing in unevenly so we wanted to get it all evened out so it would grow in neater.
She is a really good eater and will try almost everything we place on her plate. If Claire doesn't like something, she'll toss it to Darby. Super. I'm pretty sure one time when I told her not to throw food to the dog, she replied with "blah, blah, blah" - at least that's what I heard :) She doesn't eat as much as David, but she eats alot - more than Lucas, for sure. And she eats a great variety, which is nice. She also loves her milk. We are currently working on asking for her cup instead of standing at the counter stamping her feed and screaming as she gestures toward the cup! It's working and that's when she started to use the "more" sign for "I want". Hey, whatever works, right? She's communicating at least.
Claire still screams and throws her body down on the ground when one of the boys takes something away from her. She is VERY dramatic. She can be very loud and stomps her feet when she's upset. Everything with her is hot or cold, black or white. Claire is either super duper smiley or playing the role of drama queen. Not usually luke warm or in between. But her laugh and her smile is so contageous...it's hard not to melt with her cuteness.
Her favorite song is Katy Perry's Roar. It's insanely awesome when we start the song and she immediately stops what she's doing, walks into the kitchen with a huge smile on her face and begins to bounce up and down and clap. We usually have so much fun during dance parties, but even more so when Roar comes on :) So precious!
The babies are doing so well and we are loving their little personalities. They are starting to seem like little kids with their toddling around, playing and laughing with each other and Lucas, understanding what we say and ask, and beginning to speak. This age between 12 and 18 months is such a fun time - before they can really talk and give their opinion, but so much fun and learning so much each day! Love these two and their big bro!
Speaking of big bro...Lucas is doing really well too! He is rocking 2's preschool and we get a great report at the end of each Monday and Wedneday. He's completely potty trained and is no longer wearing pull-up to sleep or ever, actually. He still LOVES working on jigsaw puzzles. Building loops with his wooden train tracks is also super fun to him. He's adding more numbers to his counting song - he's up to 20 now! He is really great at singing and can remember the lyrics to most songs he is taught. He comes home from preschool singing a lot - songs that Eric nor I ever sang to him, but we can definitely understand them and he has the proper tune too! He has an incredible memory is just so, so smart! He is speaking in full, thoughtful sentenses - paragraphs, really. He is still working on being gentle with David and Claire - but, it's just so hard to not want to push them over when they break up one of his train loops or destroy a puzzle he was working on! He is a really great kid. He makes us laugh constantly and is just a little sweetie pie.
What a wonderful little family we have! We are so grateful for these healthy children and the happiness and joy they bring to us and those around them!
