Twins at 12 months old

Happy Birthday to my twins!!!

My gorgeous twin girls are now one year old. I can't believe how quickly the last 12 months have gone, but they are babies no more. We aren't doing very much to celebrate. We are having some family round, and we'll get a take away, and have a cake - with two candles on it of course - but nothing more. 

So how are they doing at the moment?

Teeth

They both have two bottom teeth which they got at six months. They also now have two top teeth, which came through a few weeks ago. Twin two has already chipped one of her top teeth in a bath-time related incident. Ah well, that's what baby teeth are for, I suppose. It doesn't seem to be bothering her, so she'll just have to get used to it, and now we have another distinguishing feature, which helps.

Food and drink

They are now on cows milk, and are quite happy on it. There was no refusal phase like with the older two children - the twins didn't even flinch. The twins will eat anything that's put in front of them, and lots of it. They eat a whole Weetabix each for breakfast, followed by toast and margarine. For lunch and dinner/tea, they will eat steamed vegetables, soft-cooked chicken, fish-fingers, banana chunks, sliced ham, sausage rolls, ice-cream, chocolate buttons, pork chop, crisps, meat paste on brown bread, and pasta. They love pasta. 

They drink milk three times a day (first thing in the morning, after lunch when they start getting a bit whiney, and at bedtime). 

Mobility

They are both walking. At 10 months old they were just learning to stand independently and cruise. Now they are full on walking. They do laps of the living room, and can run away from me if they want to. They see the door open ajar and make a break for it, following each other out like miniature zombies. Walking is the transportation method of choice more often than not. 

They each got a little wooden push along for Christmas, which they love. They bomb round the living room with them, and get into little prangs with each other.

Twin two can throw objects, like a ball. She will play roll-a-ball with an adult. Twin one knows how to play it but can't quite get her arms and hands to do the throwing bit, and gets really cross with herself. 

They play fight with each other, and tussle over toys and juice cups, with twin one usually coming out the victor. They climb into low shelves and then complain when they get stuck and can't get out again. 

They are still doing the starfish thing when I'm putting them in the pram or in their car seats, only with more force.

While we were in the GP's waiting room the other day, twin one cleared all the magazines off the coffee table, climbed on and stood up, arms aloft, much to the amusement of the other waiting patients. 

I am completely knackered. 

Speech and communication

They started using sounds to get what they want a few weeks ago. Twin two puts her hand out and says 'ta' if there us something she needs or wants. Twin one says 'Hiya' and thinks it is hilarious. They recognise words like 'banana' or 'milk' and can look for items if I say the word. They point to the pictures on the wall if I say the name of a family member. 

They communicate with each other by babbling and passing things to and fro, though they are just as likely to sit in silence when they play together.

They each respond to their name. 

Sleep

They have a morning nap from about 11am for an hour, though this is getting later and later. They usually have a nap before tea-time for about an hour again (anytime from 3.30pm onwards). 

They go to bed about 7.30pm. They point at the door and wave when they are ready. They rarely cry once in bed and tend to go straight to sleep. They stir about 6am, we pop a dummy in, and they re-settle back to sleep for another hour or so.

You can read a post about sleeping tips here.

Twin one

She is the confident, but highly strung one. She is a little bit behind with walking and physically less capable but she makes up for it in attitude. She wins all the tussles over toys and food, and has taken to slapping toys against twin two's head. She is chattier and more confident around strangers.

Twin two

She is more capable but less confident. She doesn't like strangers and will sometimes cling to me. She is taller and sturdier than twin one but loses all the fights and doesn't like confrontation. She cries when twin one bullies her. She pulls the funniest face when something excites her, and is a better listener. 

We have started to twin-proof the house a bit more. The stair gate is on and stays closed all the time. The door stoppers are on because one twin will stand with their fingers in the way, while the other one slams the door. We have blocked off access to behind the TV because they keep trying to climb behind it. All valuable and fragile objects have been moved to at least 1m above floor level. 

This last year has been fun to say the least. I am shattered on many levels but now feel we are complete as a family. We could not imagine life without them, and are looking forward to their futures. 


You can read more articles on my twins by visiting my twins, twins, twins!! page.