I couldn't think of a better picture to embody the girls personalities at fifteen months! This is them to a tee! They are into EVERYTHING! For example...
They are little sponges- learning more and more each day. Picking up on everything we say or do. They aren't babies anymore :( They are definitely toddlers!
I guess I can start with their 15 month check up. Ava James weighed 19lbs and is 30 3/4 inches tall. Hadley is 21lbs and the same height as her sister. Once again, no surprise here, they are in a higher percentile when it comes to height. Ava James is starting to catch up with her sister when it comes to weight. We could see this coming seeing as she has been eating us out of house and home! I have never seen a child eat so much. She stays hungry! Dr. Trumbull was happy with their health and growth. We did mention to him an issue with Ava James' walking. She has been turning in her feet (mostly her left foot) when she walks and often trips over her own feet. Like her sister, she can run now, but not as "efficiently" as she could. Dr. Trumbull felt like she could benefit from seeing an orthopedist, but not until 18 months. Sometimes issues such as this can correct themselves with time. We will hope that is the case!
The girls received two vaccines at their appointment- the chickenpox vaccine and the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine. Unfortunately, Hadley had a severe reaction to the MMR vaccine. She ran a fever of 103 for about three days, and has now developed a rash covering the majority of her torso and back. She has been extremely irritable, but seems to be feeling better little by little every day.
One BIG accomplishment from the past couple of months is that the girls are now PACIFIER FREE! The girls gave up (not voluntarily) their pacifiers on New Years Day. I will admit, it was extremely rough at first, but the girls are doing very well now without them. Nap time was the hardest. Neither of the girls wanted to nap and spent a lot of time crying themselves to sleep :( Hadley definitely had a harder time giving up the paci than Ava James. Or maybe I should that I had it harder than the both of them! There is something so sentimental about that pacifier! I guess because it was the last of their "baby" habits! But I'm better now too :)
The girls play with each other a lot now! They often get tickled with each other and laugh a lot together. With that comes the tendency to fight over toys. While it doesn't happen often, they are learning to share more and more. They also enjoy to give each other kisses and will even pat each other on the back when one of them are upset. During bath time they also like to wash each other's backs and hair. The girls like to play with more "grown up" toys now- baby doll stroller, grocery store cart, blocks, etc. Both girls really enjoy books and love being read stories before bed time. They recently learned to walk backwards and find this very entertaining. I often find them walking down the hall backwards for no other reason than it must just be fun!
The girls got to see snow for the first time on January 28th! Hadley enjoyed playing in it more than her sister, but they both seemed to really enjoy themselves. Before and after we weren't outside to play, Ava James kept going to the window and saying "snoo!"
A little more on the girls...
Hadley is so happy...pretty much all of the time. This is a big change from when she was a baby. She has become more and more laid back as time goes on. She loves to climb anything and everything. She is normally the twin who instigates trouble. She gets into everything! She loves to run, be outside, and dance. Her favorite toy right now seems to Lego Duplo blocks and her turtle that she can drag around. Her favorite tv show is Sesame Street. Hadley's communication skills have taken off in the past month or so. She can sign "more" and "please," and can point out her (or yours) eyes, nose, mouth, head, and belly. Hadley is learning new animal sounds each day and can rattle them off as quickly as you can ask. Her favorite animal noises are dog (woof, woof), cow (moo), and duck (ack, ack). She often tells on herself before getting in to trouble by pointing at objects that she knows are off limits and then saying "No, No!" She then grabs the forbidden object. She likes to tell Bailey (our dog) "No, no" too. Hadley LOVES shoes and constantly points them out. "Shoe" seems to be her favorite word at the moment. She can also say Mama, Daddy, Nonnie, Poppa, AJ, eyes, banana, juice, fish, dog, cat, more (when asking for more food), bye bye, hey, and baby. I'm sure I'm missing some words, but those are the most common. She is beginning to talk in some short phrases, but they are fairly random and inconsistent. The most consistent phrase she says is "see it" and it often comes out sounding more like a certain four letter word. Hadley also enjoys bath time and will respond with a loud, drawn out "YAY!" when she is told it is time to take a bath. Hadley is a very fast runner and enjoys playing chase/tag. She is extremely strong! She can climb over/on anything and drag large objects around the house.
Ava James is a character! She has more faces than most adults do! She is a flirt with strangers and generally loves people. She likes music and absolutely loves to dance! Ava James' favorite toy is her bunny Cabbage Patch Doll that her Great Granny and Great Grandpa gave her for Christmas. She named her "Bob" and carries her (or him?) every where. Bob must always be in her bed with her, and she looks for Bob when she gets upset. AJ is still our more cautious girl, but she still enjoys being thrown around and climbing all over everything. Like Hadley, her favorite TV show is Sesame Street. Ava James has blown me away with her communication skills. It seems like she started talking over night and hasn't stopped! While she can point out eyes, nose, and mouth, she can also verbally tell you which body part she is showing you. She can also show you her head and belly, but can't quite say those body parts yet. She can say "No, No," and likes to show you that she knows something is off limits (like electrical outlets, for example). She can sign "more" and "please." The only animal noise that Ava James knows is duck, but we are working on more animal sounds daily. Ava James is speaking in small phrases rather regularly. Some of the words she can say include, Mama, Daddy, AJ, Nonnie, Poppa, cat, eyes, nose, mouth, banana, more, snow, Elmo, duck, baby, Bob (her baby doll), and bye bye. She is saying more words daily so it's hard to keep up. She basically repeats any small word that she hears. Ava James is still our little mommy and enjoys rocking her baby dolls while I sing "Rock-A-Bye Baby."
Believe it or not, as long as this is, I am sure I left out so much stuff!
They really do grow up way too fast!!!
