14 Months = Awesome!

Seriously.

I LOVE this age! I can not believe how FUN Luke and Abbey are right now. They crack us up constantly as we watch their little personalities become not so little.


Such a happy boy!


They are amazing us every day with what they comprehend and are able to do! Thanks to Heather's sweet gift of Baby Sign videos, they are both signing "diaper" (toilet), "please", "thank you", in addition to what they already knew (more, eat, all done). I am super excited about them learning please and thank you. While I'm aware it's completely normal to demand, bark, and grunt at this age to communicate their desires, it makes it feel slightly less like we live with two little Dictators when they are at least demanding with manners =).




They are both saying more and more words lately, "ball" and "duck" are the latest. We hear "I wan dat" (translation: I want that) accompanied by a finger point at least 428 times a day.


Their dexterity is stunning to us! They can twist caps off things and push the tiniest of buttons! We find ourselves often learning our house wasn't as babyproof as we thought!





And teeth? Why I honestly don't even have a current count. They've both got a mouth full of them, and Abbey has her two lower molars in the back, with her upper ones getting ready to bust through.





They are walking masters on the verge of running. Abbey gets faster every day and can often be found going up and down the hallway, giggling to herself as she picks up speed.





We're seeing some fits and tantrums, which is to be expected at this age. So far nothing too brutal and Dave and I are doing our best to figure out what works for each baby...(side note, if this book tells me that discipline should be fun! one more time I'm gonna turn it into confetti).


They love to be where ever I am. This is pretty much the scene around me as I try and doing any cooking or baking...

Where ever I go, they love to set up shop and play near my feet. It can get a little irritating to have them underfoot constantly, but I try and remember that before I know it, they won't want to hang out with their Momma nearly as much, and I will miss it.



(Abbey)


(Luke)


We're pretty much down to nights and naps for binkies inside the house, and just new places when we are out and about. But we haven't drawn any real hard lines with it. We ask them to put their binks in the basket (in a drawer) when they wake up, and they never seemed bothered to do so. Funny story though, we kept noticing the basket had fewer and fewer binks in it and wondered where on earth they could be, seeing as how they never walk around with them anymore (so they don't have the opportunity to stash them around the house like they used to). On a hunch I pulled Abbey's crib away from the wall and found TEN binkies back there! Silly girl! We knew she had been tossing them somewhere because if we ever have to go re-settle her in for nap or bedtime she is always binkie-less, and when you say "Sis, where'd your binkie go?" she always goes "Huh?" and then pretends to look around while saying "hmmmm...". Such a stinker =).






They are loving trying new foods and are usually willing to try anything at least once. Luke still devours spaghetti and mac&cheese like he's never had a meal before =). And Abbey still prefers pineapple to anything.


They are both becoming expert climbers, and LOVE to get up and down from the couch 1,472 times a day. One of their favorite things is when I get one of the crib mattresses out and lay it on the floor for them to climb and jump all over. Oh to be entertained so easily!

They've been playing together more and more (as opposed parallel playing) and they crack us up all the time with the things they come up with. The other day they thought it was the funnest thing in the world to drag their spoons from side to side across the gate, like all prisoners do on their cell door =)




That video shows Luke's hilarious new trick - nodding emphatically when we ask him if he's being a good boy.


Most days we are still a two-nap household, and it seems to be working fine for all of us. We occasionally have our one-nap days, but they aren't as often as I thought they'd be.

This is a moment captured on film that we see a lot of lately...poor Luke fending off kisses from his adoring little sister. Luckily, as is evident in his grin, he does it with love =).



Saturday we went to my work BBQ and the twins loved running around and playing with the "bigger" kids. It's so crazy to realize we're crossing over into a phase where Luke and Abbey are content -and want- to wander away from us and play with other kids. Sure, when we first arrived they stayed in our laps to acclimate a bit (and Abbey longer than Luke), but then they were off, playing and exploring, and only coming back to "check in" with us so often. They sure are growing up fast...