Taming Twins: 16 Month Update

It’s been a while and the boys have been busy growing, learning, and expanding. Here’s what they’ve been up to.

Dancing & Jumping

The boys love music. Whenever we turn on music they both dance and sway. They each have their own style. Zach likes to twist around with his arms out while Adam likes to bounce up and down. Lately they’ve added jumping, a skill they have been learning at day care. It’s adorable. They can’t quite get off the ground yet but they can squat on their knees and push up quickly. We’ve been have a lot of Caspar Babypants and Raffi dance time lately.

Bye Bye

It feels like it’s taken forever but the boys finally say “Bye Bye”.  Zach is leading the charge here with a complete farewell routine that includes waving, blowing kisses, and saying “Buh Buh”. When you respond to him he shows you the biggest grin. He loves his Bye Byes. Adam enjoys it as well but with a little less kissing and talking. He is more of a waver than a talker.

“Hi”

Every time I’ve ever seen a child that learned the word “Hi” I notice two things: they say it over and over and over and they are extremely proud when they say it. Zach is no different. He’ll wander around the house saying “hi hi hi hi hi hi hi” for hours* with a huge smile across his face.

“Up”

Another word that we’ve been waiting just about forever to hear has been “up”. Until now the boys indicated that they wanted to be picked up by holding their arms up and grunting, screaming, or crying. It wasn’t pleasant. Recently the boys have started to say “up” when they hold their arms out. They don’t say it all the time but at least they say it occasionally. I’m looking forward to hearing this one more often.

Atomic Tantrums

Remember Zach’s micro-tantrums where he threw himself on the floor for a moment and then went along as if nothing ever happened? Those are a thing of the past. Now he’s gone all out nuclear. Quick one minute whine fests have been replaced with twenty minute all-out screaming fits complete with kicking, head bashing, and toy throwing. The toy throwing part is actually kind of amusing because you get to watch him look for something, try to pick it up, and throw it like he’s the Hulk. The screaming part is not. He seems to get triggered if you look at him wrong and he won’t give up until he gets what he wants, which is usually Mom.  Adam went through a tantrum stage but we didn’t need a bunker and a tank to ride it out.

Bedtime Terror

Mr. Adam has always had sleep issues. When we say he “sleeps through the night” we mean that he wakes up screaming two or three times but puts himself back to sleep. I’m not sure if he has ever slept through the night without any interruption. Lately it’s been extra horrible because he’s been waking us up. First he started making it routine to let us put him to sleep and then wake up five minutes later because he pooped. Not earth shattering, but an annoying routine to have every night. Later he started waking up multiple times per night in an inconsolable rage. We had to get out of bed at 1, 2, sometimes 3 AM the same night to console him. After a couple weeks of pain we finally linked it to excessive milk intake before bed. We started allowing only water after dinner and the late-night waking was reduced. After that it turned into teething, then it was coughing. Finally this week he started sleeping again. Ugh.

Routines

Zach has been excelling in the language department lately while Adam has been excelling in the routines department. He increasingly notices our daily routines and has become very serious about completing them properly. For instance, when we leave in the morning, we open the gate to the mud room, put the dogs in the kennel, and go to the car. Once we open the gate Zach runs for the mud room while Adam stands at the gate and points at Hannah until we bring her through and put her in the kennel. Satisfied, Adam closes the gate and runs to the mud room. When it’s time to eat, he runs to the dining room and takes his tray out of his seat so that we can sit him down and start the meal. When we pick him up at day care he runs over to grab his bag and immediately runs to the door to leave. If any of the steps of the routine are out of sync he stops and stares at you with a look of offense. Routines are serious business for this little guy.

Brotherly Love

They may have been born at the same time, but Adam is definitely filling the role of “big brother”, or maybe “slave”… depends on how you look at it. Adam feels like he needs to make sure Zach is taken care of. When we give him his cup, he wants a second one to bring to Zach. If Zach falls down and cries, Adam thinks its important to get a toy and bring it to him to make him happy. If Adam has a snack, he makes sure Zach has one too. If Zach doesn’t feel like eating it, Adam doesn’t mind feeding it to him. It’s really cute to watch. I’m not always sure if it’s Adam being a big brother or Zach being a prince, but it’s adorable anyway.