TEN MONTHS- Two months away from their first birthday! THAT IS INSANE!
No checkups this past month, so I am unsure of their weights. But I can assure you that both girls are growing like crazy. They have almost outgrown their 9 month clothes, although 12m clothes are still too big.
Unfortunately, the girls had their first real/bad illness this past month. It started with Hadley and then ended with Ava James getting sick a week or so later. The doctors were sure it was strep but all tests came back negative. Since it was a virus, the doctor couldn't give our poor babies any antibiotic to knock it out. It definitely affected Ava James more than her sister. While both girls ran fevers, we became very concerned when Ava James' fever spiked to 105! Neither Tylenol or Ibuprofen would bring the fever down. Finally, after three days of extremely high fever and very little sleep, Ava James fever broke and she began to feel MUCH better.
Both girls continue to amaze us with their growth and development. It seems like they are learning something new every day. While both girls are extremely close to walking, Hadley is the closest. Both girls can stand unassisted for short periods of time, and can even "dance" standing all on their own. The girls have also developed their own language in the past month. In the past, the girls babbled back and forth, but it wasn't until this past month where they seemed to really understand one another. They will babble and laugh back and forth for up to an hour! Especially if it is nap time. They will stand in their cribs and giggle/babble/blow raspberries back and forth. They continue to throw pacifiers back and forth and sometimes attempt to wake each other up to play. Both girls like to be around their sister and very rarely do they "venture out" on their own.
The girls still take two naps a day and sleep soundly from 7:00pm until 6:00am. They eat three solid meals a day with a bottle in the afternoon. We have incorporated finger foods into their meals now, which they love. Hadley is obsessed with puffs and Ava James loves slices of banana. We continue to try and faze out the bottle by giving them their formula in sippy cups. They are doing very well with the sippy cup and will hopefully be completely off the bottle by their first birthday in two months.
This past month we took a trip to the Georgia Aquarium. The girls Nonnie, Poppa, Uncle Jason, Aunt Meredith, and cousin Harper were also there!
The girls LOVED it! It was extremely crowded that day so we didn't get to spend as much time in some of the exhibits as we would have liked. Both girls enjoyed looking at all of the fish! Ava James especially loved the tide pools. She tried her hardest to reach her hands into the water to reach the sting rays and star fish.
The girls went "back to school" this past Thursday (Mother's Morning Out). The girls have moved up a class and seemed to really enjoy themselves. They truly love being around people and other babies. I think that is one advantage of being a twin- they already know how to play with others! Although we are still working on sharing and not pushing/pulling one another. They seem to understand these concepts and are doing much better when told "No."
I don't think I have mentioned this in the past, but both girls are OBSESSED with Elmo and have been for a couple months now. Any time we bring out our phones or iPad, they look for Elmo. They have two Elmo DVD's that they would wear completely out if we let them! Both girls recognize the name "Elmo" and will get VERY excited at the sight of his picture.
The girls have definitely developed their own personalities. Therefore here is more about the girls individually!
Hadley Kate...where do I begin?! She wants to climb anything and everything! She shows no fear of being hurt and bonking her head. Hadley is so tough! There have been many times that she has bonked her head, fallen, etc. and never shed a tear. She gets right back up and tries again- so determined! Sometimes this can be to her disadvantage. Specifically when she is doing something "bad." Hadley had become obsessed with the very large, very heavy mirror above the changing table. She understands "No," but will still test Rusty and I when we tell her not to touch/grab the mirror. She will even hold her hand out like she is going to grab the mirror all while looking at us as if to say, "You mad?"
Hadley has begun to lose interest in crawling. She can take up to four steps unassisted!! She walks around our coffee table constantly. She still holds onto the coffee table, but she could definitely walk by herself. The walker has become her new favorite toy and she will become upset if she can't get behind it to walk it down our main hallway. Although sometimes she tries to run over her sister :( It is a learning process! Another favorite toy of Hadley's if my (Katie) old farmhouse toy and farm animals from when I was younger. We stored it on a bottom shelf in the girls room. Hadley will crawl all the way down the hall, through the foyer, down another hall, and into their room to pull out the farm animals and play.
Hadley now has THREE teeth! She has two bottom teeth and one top. We can see another top tooth under the skin and it doesn't seem to be bothering her at all. After her first two (bottom) teeth came through, teething has come easy to her. We began brushing her teeth this past month and she LOVES it! She has Elmo toothpaste and an Elmo toothbrush.
Hadley can now say several words and say them with meaning. She knows "Da Da," "Ma Ma," "AJ," "Mo(more)," "Na Na (Nonnie),"and "Ooo (Uh Oh)." She will say "Mo" when I am feeding the girls lunch. Since I have to alternate between feeding Hadley and Ava James, she will say "Mo" whenever I am feeding her sister and wants more. She says "Da Da" the most and only says "Ma Ma" when she wants me for something. She thinks it is funny to intentionally fall just to say "Oooo," which is pretty funny. While she doesn't say "Na Na" as often as she says everything else, I know she is genuinely trying to say "Nonnie." The first time she said it was after she watched her Nonnie (my mom) leave the house one day. She was upset and wanted her to come back!
Hadley is still very sensitive when it comes to loud noises. Really loud noises are all that scares Hadley! Thunder, barking dogs, boat motors, vacuum cleaners, and loud music has all scared her at some point. She will grab onto whoever is holding her (or want to be held) at the sound of a loud noise.
Hadley is very active and very rarely slows down. She will go full throttle until we put her down for nap time or bedtime. On the rare occasion that she does slow down, she loves to snuggle and sometimes gives kisses. The dog gets more kisses that anyone else- which is funny because Bailey (the dog) is still very cautious of the girls. Bailey gets the most kisses during thunderstorms. Bailey is most scared of thunder and Hadley tries to calm her down by kissing her on the head.
Our sweet Ava James. I have never known another baby who is genuinely so happy all the time. She is the easiest baby to take care of! She entertains herself and can often be found giggling and laughing at whatever she is playing with. AJ is more sensitive than her sister and cries more easily when she bonks her head or falls. She especially gets her feelings hurt whenever she is told "No." Ava James became obsessed with the electrical outlets this past month, and could even get the child proof tabs out of them! Therefore she was told "No" many times. As soon as she realized that Rusty or I was not happy with her, she began to pout, cry, and reach out for us. She was so hurt! I can see that she generally wants to please people and keep everyone happy- which she gets from her Uncle Jason.
Ava James continues to be our fast crawler! "Turbo," as she has been called over the past month, is so quick that we sometimes have trouble keeping up with her. While she is interested in walking, she still enjoys crawling. She can stand steady on her feet without assistance but has yet to take more than one unassisted step. However, Ava James LOVES to dance. She will stand, by herself, flap her arms, and move her hips back and forth (dancing). As soon as she hears music she is dancing. She loves music. There is one specific song on one of their Elmo DVD's of Elmo tap dancing and she dances the entire time- definitely her favorite.
AJ is still is toothless. In fact, we don't really see any signs of teeth in her mouth at all! No buds or anything. However she is very interested in everyone else's teeth. She likes to look/examine teeth and thinks it so funny when you bite your teeth together or "eat" her toys. I often find her trying to give me her pacifier.
Ava James is more talkative than her sister by far! While her sister says more words than she does, Ava James will actively try to hold a conversation with people, her sister, or even her reflection in the mirror. She babbles constantly and even makes multiples noises that are too hard to describe. We don't know how she does it! She says "Da Da" constantly and has only said "Ma Ma" a couple of times. She can imitate sounds that you make and has tried to say "Bye Bye" many times- it comes out as "Ba Ba." However, shes doesn't understand that you say "Ba Ba" when someone is leaving. Ava James can wave "Hello" and "Bye Bye" and will sometimes wave just to get your attention. She waves mostly at family and friends, but will sometimes wave to random strangera who aren't looking. She even waves to Elmo on the TV.
Ava James loves to give kisses. She specifically loves to give her sister kisses. That is if Hadley sits still long enough for her to give her a kiss. While Hadley will only give certain people (and the dog) kisses, Ava James will give her sister, me, Rusty, Nonnie, Poppa, Uncle Jason, Aunt Meredith, and cousin Harper kisses (or at least try). You can tell she loves her family!
As always, I will post this and think of a million things that I forgot to include! They are growing up so fast it is becoming harder and harder to keep up with their milestones.
I could get all sappy on you here, but I will wait until their first birthday to do that :) I will simply end by saying that we are one blessed family!
