I can't believe that in just one month, these little miracles will be ONE YEAR OLD! Eleven months have come and gone so quickly.
Once again, no doctors appointment this past month, so I'm not sure about weights or heights. They are both wearing most 12 month clothing and are eating us out of house and home!!!
Both girls continue to amaze us with their growth and development. Both girls can now tell you who they are. While they can't correctly say their name, they can pat themselves on the chest and pronounce the first letter of their name. Hadley says "Haa" and Ava James will say "Aaa." Doesn't seem like much, but when someone asks, "Who is Hadley/Ava James?" it comes in handy. The girls are also communicating more with one another. They laugh at a each other a lot, share toys, and give each other kisses regularly. However, with every pair of siblings, there have also been some sour moments. The girls have learned to push/pull each down, shove, or even kick each other. We are working on this daily!!! Luckily the girls completely understand "No" or "No Mam."
The girls have also learned how to throw things (mainly balls). This came about when Bailey (the dog) kept bringing them her tennis ball. They soon learned how to hand Bailey the ball and even throw it (even though it's more like a roll). They have also started playing with toys in the way that they were intended. By that I mean they can properly play with their farm set. They will put the cows inside of their fence and even put the people in the tractor. They also enjoy sitting in chairs. They have a child size rocker in their room that they love. Hadley can easily get in and out of the chair, and Ava James can with a little help. They will even go get a toy to play with while sitting in their "big girl chair."
The girls have started eating a lot of finger foods this past month. The girls do VERY well with feeding themselves. Hadley's favorite finger food in bananas and Ava James loves peas. Hadley is officially off the bottle (sippy cups only) and hopefully Ava James isn't too far behind. Both girls are still sleeping very well- sleeping almost two hours for both naps and almost 12 hours at night.
This past month brought about the start of Auburn football! The girls have enjoyed tailgating! There are other families that tailgate with us and all of them have kids (or grandchildren) around their age- all girls! The girls really enjoy playing with the "big girls," being outside, and getting a lot of attention from all the people that show up at the tailgate.
As the girls get older, they are hitting milestone after milestone. It's hard to keep up with them all! I will try my best to remember them...here is more about the girls at 11 months...
Hadley is WALKING! That is most definitely the biggest change in Hadley's life over the past month. While she can't walk long distances, she can walk from one area to another (the recliner to the couch or the kitchen door to the living room, for example). It's funny- she almost doesn't realize that she is walking. If you ask her to walk to you she will drop to her knees and crawl. She really only walks when she isn't thinking too much about it.
Walking has only increased Hadley's need for a thrill! She is still our daredevil and shows very little fear of anything. Loud noises still scare her but crawling onto furniture, over furniture, into furniture...not scared at all. She loves crawling over the elliptical in the living room and has even devised multiple plans in order to crawl onto the furniture. Both girls have a light weight, green chair that they can easily move around. Hadley will push her chair next to the coffee table or couch and then attempt to crawl up onto the furniture. I'm sure she would be successful as she has managed to get at least one knee onto the coffee table. I always stop her before she has a chance to be successful. She has also learned to crawl up her car seat and into the window seat in their room. She will then proceed to throw every stuffed animal on the floor. In one word, Hadley = BUSY! She never stops. She is ALWAYS doing something and very rarely slows down to sit and watch a TV show or read a book.
Over the past month we have noticed that Hadley is very particular about certain things. She doesn't want anything on the coffee table. She will pull anything that you put on the table onto the floor and then go about her business. She also hates the arm chair covers on the rocker in their room.
Hadley has become more lovey-dovey over the past month. She loves to give hugs and kisses. She will often say "Mama" and the reach her hands out for hugs. On the subject of speaking, Hadley is still learning more and more words and speaking more clearly. She can say "Mama," "DaDa," "AJ," "Oooo (uh oh)," "More," and "NaNa (Nonnie)." While she hasn't learned a lot more words, you can understand her a lot better. She also knows the sign language for "More" and "touchdown." We continue to work with both girls on sign language. It's just hard when our hands are often occupied by feeding two babies, calming two babies, playing with two babies...you get the point.
Hadley still has just three teeth but there are a couple buds under the skin that I expect will pop through soon.
Ava James finally has TEETH!!! Sweet girl has two front teeth (top) that popped through at once. We can see two additional buds on the top, but still no sign of bottom teeth.
Ava James is still a turbo crawler. While she could easily walk, and has taken two steps on her own, she is still more interested in crawling. She can easily walk the length of the hall with one hand on the wall. I'm pretty confident that when she sees her sister walking regularly that she won't be too far behind
Our sweet Ava James loves to give hugs and kisses. She often comes out of no where just to give you a kiss or hug. She loves to snuggle and watch TV (Elmo or Super Why) or read a book. While she can't crawl into their kid-sized chairs by herself, she loves to sit in them and watch TV or play with a toy. She is so proud of herself whenever she sits in her chair by herself!
Ava James has learned a lot more words over this past month and continues to talk up a storm. She can now say "Mama," "DaDa," "NaNe (Nonnie)," and "Poppa." She also likes to do the sign for touchdown. She thinks that's really funny. Ava James has also learned to patty cake. She claps her hands and "rolls it." Especially when she is excited.
One thing we have learned about our little Ava James recently is that she LOVES music. She now dances when she hears music and even giggles or laughs. She especially loves their lamb that sings " Jesus Loves Me." She will rock the lamb and sometimes hum along.
Ava James is still very sweet and rarely gets upset. If she gets upset it's because someone or something has hurt her feelings. She loves people and waves at everyone that she meets. Her teachers at Mothers Morning Out and care givers in the church nursery have both told us that she simply wants to stand at the door and wave at everyone who walks by.
As the girls get older I am constantly reminded how short life is. Mainly because they are growing and developing so quickly. The past eleven months have flown by. It's hard to believe that it was a year ago that we were praying for full-term, healthy babies. I've already started to forget how tiny the girls when they were born.
I am forever thankful for these two precious babies.
