Posted by It’s been a long time since I sat down at the computer to write. We have been really busy the last couple months with school and baseball and life. I think about blogging often but never seem to make it to the computer. Eli and Emry Jane are changing so much these days that I wanted to make a point of sitting down with my cup of coffee during this morning nap time and just share what they are doing now. Like I have said before, most of my blogging is for me– so that I can go back and read and remember what we have accomplished (and survived!)
The twins have been fairly healthy the last month (minus a chronic runny nose that I blame on their baby school!) so the most recent weight/height stats are from their 15 month check up at the end of September. As of September 29th, Eli weighed 22lbs. 7oz. (45th percentile) and was 30.5″ tall (24th percentile) and Emry Jane weighed 19lbs. 15oz. (31st percentile) and was 29″ tall (7th percentile.) EJ is still our petite princess, but at least she is on the growth chart now! Their difference in weight and height have changed the questions that people ask us when we are out. “How far apart are they?” is the most common question we get now. Our “10 minutes” response is usually met with shock and the follow up response is almost always, “They are TWINS?!” We have had people tell us that they look 9 to 18 (!!!) months apart. Thank the sweet Lord for not giving me two babies 9 months apart. How would that even be possible?! (Don’t actually answer that.)
Eli is fast. He runs. He climbs EVERYTHING. He has the upper body strength of a baby Ninja Warrior. He amazes us daily with all the high places he can get to. He knows that by pushing a basket, toy or ottoman that he can reach almost anything. He moves then climbs on the kitchen chairs to access what he wants from the table. He has climbed out of his crib on more than one occasion, once assisted by his sister. Baby-proofing has had new meaning the past couple months.
He LOVES music. He is an adorable little dancer. He likes to shake/nod his head and rock his body from side to side whenever there is music. He loves to carry my phone around with him and listen to Pandora. Yes, I’m starting him on Mumford and Son and the Avett Brothers way early. He loves balls and this yellow plastic bat that Tommy bought for Noah forever ago. He wants to throw/play catch all the time. He loves to share his soft baseball balls with Manning (and so we have lost quite a few of them to Manning shredding them!) and playing baseball using the tee with Daddy. I see way more baseball games in my future.
Eli is extremely observant and has great receptive language. He is not as expressive as his sister but he makes adorable inquisitive sounds and he understands way more words/phrases than he says. He can follow directions and bring you almost anything. His newest word is “no” but so far he has only used it (while also shaking his head no) when he didn’t want to get out of the bathtub. His most-used words are: ball, dog dog, yes, mama, dada, more and all done. He has 8 teeth. He can use a spoon for yogurt and fork for some meat and pasta to feed himself. He is still left-hand dominant but does throw a ball with his right hand sometimes. He LOVES juice. We buy the Mott’s Tots kind that is already diluted with filtered water. He still wakes at least once a night and needs Mommy to come comfort him. I give him his Montavius (pacifier, if you are a new reader) and tuck him back in and he is asleep again right away, usually for the rest of the night.
Emry Jane is sugar AND spice. She has the sassiest little facial expressions and she can “mean mug” with the best of them. She must enjoy giving people her scowl-y face because she uses it often, especially with strangers. She can hold her scowling stare for several minutes. Tommy timed it once– she scowled at him without moving for 3 minutes straight. Pure attitude. We have our hands full with this one! She is also very vocal about her dissatisfaction if things do not go her way. She is our “equality police.” Everything better be equal between her and Eli or she is letting you know that it is NOT okay. If he gets to walk, so does she. He climbs, she climbs (though usually she cannot climb up to where he is, so anger ensues.) If he has his cup or blanket or paci, you better be looking around for hers. I’ve been told a certain brother and sister (hint, Tommy and Amy) were like this growing up. She is also our dramatic one. She will lie down face-down on the floor and whimper/cry when things do not go her way. Then, she looks up at us to see if we have changed ours mind about whatever it is she wants and when we don’t (because we are not giving in to this behavior or we will be paying for it for years) she lies face down again. It’s hysterical. We just tell her to “make it a good one” and walk away. After a few moments, she gets up and moves on to investigate what Eli might have that she does not. She also likes to watch herself cry. I am going to blame Amy for our little girl’s drama because, surely, I was a drama-free child, specifically during those teenage years. Just don’t ask my Mama.
Emry Jane likes her baby dolls. She likes to carry them around and push them in her baby stroller. She likes to play in her pink cozy coupe car. She likes to listen to music and waves her hands in the air if it is playing. Very Jersey Shore-esque. She gets it from her Daddy. She loves cell phones. I have an old iPhone that I try to keep charged so that she can play with it, especially if Eli is rocking out to Pandora on my iphone. Equality Police. Emry Jane wants to climb like Eli, but she is more timid than he is. She is a slower climber, like up the stairs for example, and she is also more likely to get “stuck” because she is afraid to climb down. Eli loves to climb on top of the train table in our playroom. EJ climbs up too, but then cannot get down on her own. When she is ready to get down, she sits there with her legs draped over the side and calls out for someone to come get her.
Emry Jane is still our slower-to-warm-up-to-strangers twin, but she is very comfortable with her teachers at school and has no issues with morning drop off. Eli cries at drop off if we hesitate in the doorway at all. When we were in San Diego last week, Emry Jane did great with Face-timing us. She waved, smiled and blew us kisses through the phone, but Eli became very upset. Emry Jane is still Daddy’s Girl and Eli is Mama’s Boy, but she does have a greater interest in her mama, which I love. She went room by room calling for me when we were gone… after months of indifference, it’s nice to know that she does need her mama! (I know she isn’t really indifferent to me, but when Daddy is home, it has been “Mama who?!” since birth!)
We get asked a lot if the twins have their own language yet. For the most part, they do not try to communicate with each other. Sometimes they will play “together,” as in take toys out of the same basket or play with their cozy coupes at the same time. They are usually just playing near each other. Emry Jane is our more expressive one these days. Her most used words are: baby, puppy, Amy/Mamy/Nana which is sometimes referring to the person and other times her Mary pacifier and Mommy. She has perfected the “E” sound so now it’s Mommy and Daddy. No more Mama and Dada business for Emry Jane. She can sign “more” and “all done” and uses them more often. She also has 8 teeth. She can use a spoon for yogurt and is still trying to master the fork. Sometimes, she will hand me the fork so I can put her meat/pasta on it then she will take it back and feed herself. She is right-hand dominant. The twins will eat almost anything now. It is nice to be able to go eat somewhere and they will eat off the menu with everyone else. We can actually take our kids to Taste of Thai (this is probably the hardest though because they aren’t super fond of rice) or wherever and they will eat. Of course, I still bring along snacks and baby pouches to use as appetizers!
The twins may not talk to each other, but they are very affectionate with each other. Emry Jane likes to lay her head on Eli. She also gives him kisses. Both of the twins give those adorable open-mouthed baby kisses still. They are really cute together in the twin grocery cart at Kroger since they are forced to be close to each other with no barrier between (like in the double stroller) and are usually loving towards each other during that time. Grocery trips have become increasingly challenging though because they recognize the food and want to eat it immediately. There have been times that a pouch or goldfish were opened and consumed before purchasing. My apologies to Kroger but I will buy them AND I am trying to keep this a pleasant shopping experience for everyone within earshot of our shopping cart. My children can cry LOUD. They also try to comfort each other. Emry Jane will bring Eli his Montavius or blanket, if he is crying, and vice versa. They hit and push each other; their relationship changes minute by minute. All is fair game in Baby Fight Club.
If you have stuck with reading to this point, thank you! I told you that I felt like I had a lot to catch up on! Baseball ends next week so I am hoping things slow down for a bit and it won’t be so long between posts. (It’s now “holiday season,” so I know it won’t actually slow down at all.)
christianson6 