They LOVE to run. It's all they really ever want to do. Run and climb into boxes. They love balls, blocks, music (always have) and dancing, Mickey Mouse, animals (especially Lady), each other, mama and daddy, books, bananas, fruit snacks, having their socks off, the word "no", snow, cars, their dump trucks, and their little plastic bowls they got for their birthday (still). The love to stomp. Any time they get shoes or slippers on, the run into the hall to stomp on the hardwood. They also do it frequently, just for fun.
They eat just about everything. Mackay is a little picky, of course (further proof he's named after the right grandpa). They still have not had honey or lettuce, but do pretty well with everything else. The skins on apples or potato wedges is a little hard for them to chew (not that Mackay would eat fruit anyway). Their favorite foods include bananas, applesauce, cookies, goldfish, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, french fries- both sweet potato and regular, and chicken nuggets with ketchup or fry sauce. Those are the foods we always know they will eat.
They are still wearing size 5 diapers, which they've been in since they were probably six months old. They take one nap per day, around 2 or 3 (depending on whether or not mama works) and it usually lasts an hour and a half to two hours. They are sleeping with fewer interruptions, but waking earlier. They used to sleep until 8:30 or 9:00 every morning and now we are lucky to make it to 8:00. They are figuring out how to communicate, even if they don't know the words to you what they want to say. They make little grunting sounds (I guess that's the best way to describe it) and point or move their hand in the direction of whatever it is they want, and they keep doing it until you get it. We have finally discontinued the bottle all together. We began eliminating one bottle a day at about a year old. For the last three months, they have only had them after their bath, before bed. They still cried for two or three days for them, but have forgotten all about them now. Yay! Next on the chopping block... binkies! The still sleep in the same crib at night and can usually be found with limbs draped across each other. Mama still rocks them to sleep for nap time, but they sleep in our bed.
They won't sit on mama or daddy's lap together anymore, except at bed time when mama reads a story and sings some songs. Any other time, if on of them is sitting on your lap and you pull the other one up, the first one gets down. It's pretty sad. They play together more though, and it's SO cute. They love to chase each other up and down the hall and around the bedroom, grabbing onto the other's clothing or hiding and running when they are found.
They love to play! The love it when you play with their brother as well, it's almost more fun. They love to watch brother having fun. We love to see how happy it makes them to see their brother happy. They both wave (although Mackay does it more) and love to blow kisses.
Nolan:
Boy this kid is goofy. He loves to make everyone laugh. If he is successful, which he often is, he will keep doing whatever it was that made you laugh.
He does not like to do anything on command.
He loves to point at things and tell you what they are, especially Mackay, Lady, and daddy.
He does this trot thing where he's up on one toe and he bounces up and down. SO funny.
Getting to be pretty obedient. When mama says "come here", he usually comes.
Kind of a bully. He likes to take things away from Mackay. Now that he's listening, when we tell him to give toys back to Mackay, he pretty much always does. He likes to beat up on Lady too. He's always pulling on her ears or lips or tugging on her tail. He loves being thrown around when she's tugging on a toy.
LOVES red. He is obsessed with this bowl (of which there are 10 in different colors and sizes). If he sees Mackay with it, he throws a fit an chases him around until Mackay gives up and gives it to him.
Loves bath time. He will sit and watch mama clean out and fill up the bath tub. He's always ready when it's time to get in.
Nolan is very cautious. If something hurts him once, he won't do it again until he knows he can do it. He fell out of the shopping cart once, and now squats down and holds on to both sides, and has only ever fallen down stairs once, two days before his birthday.
Loves to climb. Has figured out how to climb down our front stairs all by himself using the rail on the side.
List of animal sounds include: cow (putting lips together and making an "mmm" sound), snake, monkey (high pitched squealing), horsey (vibrating lips together), froggie (bubbu).
List of words: car/truck- cacga, yucca- caca, no, mama, daddy-dado, Lady- dady, doggy- dotie, more- mo, Mickey- dittie, Mackay- daday, shoe- baba (we think because he associates them with going bye bye)
Mackay:
Loves making people laugh, but in a different way than his brother. He's not quite as silly. He wants you to laugh at him, but has more purpose.
Loves to be in his own little space.
When he takes toys from his brother, he runs. As fast and far away as possible. Then, when he gets cornered, he gives the toy back and runs away again.
If Nolan wants a toy, Mackay usually gives it to him. He's kind of a peacemaker (wonder where he gets that from). When Nolan takes a toy from Mackay and we make him give it back (or take it back and give it to Mackay), if Nolan continues to cry over it, Mackay will usually give it back to him.... that doesn't mean he's always happy about it though.
LOVES to dance and he's so darn cute doing it.
Can usually be found reading.
Is way more content watching shows than his brother is.
Will read forever. He will kneel down at his little shelf searching through books and throwing them around until he finds one he wants.
Loves playing with Lady for a minute. When he starts getting thrown around he usually moves on.
Mackay is much more daring than his brother. He has fallen out of the shopping cart twice and down a few small flights of stairs. He thinks he can just walk down them.
As daring as he is, he hasn't figured out how to climb the way his brother has. Does not climb up on shelves or down our front stairs.
He finds a toy that he loves every morning and it always has to travel with us to the sitters, although he drops it as soon as he gets there.
Animal sounds include: cow- putting lips together and making an "mmm" sound, snake, monkey-high pitched squealing, horsey- vibrating lips together, froggie- bauby, kitty- meo, ducky- ba.
List of words: car, grandpa, ball- baba (we think this is car because he associates it with going bye bye), me, no, mommy, dada, Lady- dady, Mickey- dittie, Goofy- dootie, bunny- nouny, naughty- nonnie, Nolan- duddy, stop-top.
We can't believe our next post will be 18 months. They really do grow up so fast, but it feels like the day they were born was ages ago. Mama recently typed out the whole birth experience as well as the first month or so of life, and it seems like so long ago, but it's still so clear (the parts she was lucid for and remembers). She's also had to transfer pictures to a new computer (since the old one finally pooped out) and has been looking at the pictures from the first two months... they were so tiny (although, not really tiny, especially for twins). It's hard to think of them that small and helpless. It's hard to remember a time when they weren't able to do anything at all. This last year and a half has definitely been a whirl wind, we don't like to say a roller coaster because nothing is ever that low with these two guys around.
Our next post will include an update from Nolan's Neurologist and the Pediatrician. Holy Moly! Hopefully we only have one, maybe two visits left with the neurologist (including an MRI), and we should be all clear. Man, life is crazy. Having kids is the most incredible experience. Although pregnancy and birth are awful, we will never forget it, we know the kids are worth going through it again (not yet though). It's hard to say this because it should have been the best day of our lives, but our delivery experience was the hardest and worst time in our lives, with the absolute best, most rewarding outcome imaginable.
Mackay dancing and Nolan running in their new dinosaur shirts.
First doughnut
Car Show with Grandpa! This is how wet and snowy they got just walking inside.
Riding with Grandpa!
Nolan walking with grandma and grandpa.
Mama just woke Mackay up to take a picture and make sure he slept at home ha ha.
Sleeping Nolan... with his leg outside the crib.
They don't even care when they fall in the snow anymore.
Nash played in the snow with us.
Jell-O!!!
What a mess!
Sweet boys! Mama loves this one.
We wouldn't trade a second of our lives for anything. We absolutely do not wish we had had these boys one at a time. They were definitely meant to come here together. Twins are such an incredible experience. It's amazing to see the bond they have, it's hard to describe, it's so much sweeter and stronger than anyone could imagine. We thought they would be close but what they have is something else entirely. You can learn so much about life from them. The need for love, the joy of a friend, and the bond that is created between two people long before they come to this world. We are so incredibly grateful and so humbled to have been chosen to raise these boys together. It is something that everyone should be able to experience but so special that most won't. This is why we try to share as much as we can, to give you, our loved ones, the chance to experience just a little bit of what this is like.
